Taking Sights
by Lavanya Six
Summary: AU. After Third Impact, Gendo Ikari gets his own chance to go back and change things for the better. But things do not go as planned this time around, either.
1. Disclaimer

This is hardly an original idea. A character at the end of a series going back to the beginning? Been done a lot, especially by better writers than me. The TV Tropes wiki even refers to this type of device as a "Peggy Sue", a portmanteau on the "Mary Sue" type character and the time-travel movie "Peggy Sue Got Married". 

But that's not to say these stories can't be interesting. Crazy-88's "Once More with Feeling" is a good example of a Peggy Sue done well. So is Strike Fiss's "Higher Learning". In fact, while I was rereading those fanfics, a curious thought entered my head: everyone always writes about the _hero_ (usually Shinji) getting a do-over.

Why not the _villain_?

Why not Gendo Ikari?

After all, who is less deserving of a second chance than that ol' four-eyed bastard? Even a casual fan of Neon Genesis Evangelion knows that Gendo is a total slimeball. Why, he's practically the devil himself! He killed, maimed, schemed, blackmailed, and conned his way into unleashing Third Impact on his own terms, just so he'd be reunited with his dead wife. And all it cost was his soul, his son's love, and the human race itself. Why would HE of all people DESERVE a second chance?

Of course, that assumes "good" and "bad" people get what they deserve. Life rarely works that way. And Gendo with foreknowledge of what's to come? That's a surefire recipe for yummy fanfic drama.

So now let us begin a new story, set in a world where Gendo Ikari finds himself blessed with a second chance to save his soul…

…or damn it once and for all.

_[A quick note on the rating. This isn't going to be a hard "M", but the later chapters, particularly when I get into the second half of the series, will be darker and more violent than the first half. Don't worry, I'm not going to get into detail about sex or violence, but those themes will be present._


	2. Born Again

# # # presenting # # #

* * *

**TAKING SIGHTS**

**BOOK ONE: HINDSIGHT  
**

**Chapter 01 – Born Again  
**

**Written by: Lavanya Six**

**(please don't sue)**

* * *

# # # the first installment in a continuing series # # #

* * *

_"The initial contact has no problems."_

He felt numb.

_"Power has been transmitted up to the brachial muscle in both arms. There are no problems with the nerve links."_

He couldn't move.

_"Check. The board is green up to step 2550."_

The room was too bright, the colors wrong. He couldn't bring it into focus. What had happened? Where was he?

_"Begin the third stage connection."_

That voice! He knew that voice! Impossible! He turned his head (he could move!). There, barely, he could make out a blonde woman in a lab coat.

_"Up to 2580 satisfied. Approaching absolute borderline: 0.9, 0.7, 0.5, 0.4, 0.3... no! The pulses are beginning to flow backwards!"_

He looked at her back. There was no blood. No exit wound.

_"Problems encountered in the third stage. It's rejecting the nerve center elements."_

Shouldn't she be dead?

_"Sever the connection! Break the circuits up to level 6!"_

Shouldn't... he himself... be dead?

_"Negative! It isn't accepting the signal!"_

The roar woke him. He remembered that sound. He blinked, looked around. Wasn't this Experiment Station-2? Hadn't he been here before? He had, hadn't he. He remembered this day.

And then Gendo Ikari realized he remembered _everything_.

Kozo stepped past him. "Abort the experiment! Cut the umbilical cable!"

"Yes, sir!" Ritsuko dashed off the command into the computer. As Gendo remembered it – was this all just a memory? – the rampage of Unit-00 continued as it switched to its internal reserves.

One of the technicians, Shigeru, announced, "35 seconds until complete shutdown!"

The Eva's fist shattered the observation room's glass window, spraying shards backwards towards the NERV staff. Gendo watched as one shard grazed Kozo's left arm, cutting a crimson streak across his upper arm. Kozo cried out in pain. Gendo blinked. Wait, that hadn't hap-

Between the dins of Unit-00's fist, there was a muffled explosion.

"Auto ejection system engaged!"

Dr. Akagi shouted, "Use the bakelite! _Hurry!_"

Gendo felt the numbness recede. Old instincts reasserted themselves. He pushed aside everything... the truth of this strange world of memory... and sprang into action. Rei was in danger. Rei, the key to his plan.

He sprinted out of the observation room, taking the emergency staircase five steps at a time, practically throwing himself down them. His heart pounded in his chest.

"REI!"

The cage was flooding with red bakelite off to one side, hardening over the staggered orange giant. That telltale chemical smell of the bakelite, like a cross between ozone and burning metal, assaulted his senses. Gendo ignored it. His focus was on the battered entry plug dead ahead of him.

"REI!"

He grabbed the plug's superheated manual release and then jerked away. His glasses were thrown from his face by the jolt. The familiar smell of cooking meat replaced the bakelite's stink.

Gendo looked at his burned hands.

He knew this... memory? _No_. This pain was no memory. **This was real.** Everything that was happening was real. Somehow.

Distantly, he heard a moan.

Pushing away his thoughts of the past, Gendo returned to the task at hand. He grabbed the manual release, ignoring the horrible burning, and forced the hatch open. He climbed inside the dark, cramped space. The smell of (_blood_) LCL washed over him.

"Rei, are you all right?! Rei!"

Intellectually, he knew that she was alive. He had been here before, lived this moment before. But the dim sight of battered and broken Rei Ayanami looking into his eyes hit him hard.

This wasn't just any Rei. This was Rei-II, the last one he'd given away any of his heart. The Rei who had been loyal. The Rei in whose eyes he could see – if only in that damned wistfulness he had always tried so hard to suppress – his Yui. The Rei who had saved Unit-01, Shinji, and the Plan at the cost of her own life.

"Rei... I'm so sorry."

* * *

When the medics came Gendo shouted at them, ordering them to prepare to treat her for a dangerous increase in intracranial pressure. The first time around the doctors had nearly lost Rei to a subdural hematoma when the first, flawed brain scan had failed to turn it up. He wasn't going to let that happen again.

Later, once Rei was safely in surgery, he let a doctor look at his burns. Gendo winced. The pain he could deal with, but he did not look forward to again going through the incessant, monstrous itching as his skin healed. Kozo, who had worshipped the sun once too much as a youth, would understand.

Kozo.

He was supposed to be here!

"Where is the Vice-Commander?"

The doctor, a graying Irish man whom Gendo did not care to learn the name of, blinked. "Doctor Juhl is treating him, sir."

"For_what_?"

"His arm, sir. Commander Fuyutsuki caught some glass during the... incident." The unknown doctor was wise enough to be political in his phrasing. "I'm told the laceration wasn't too-

"I'm fine."

Kozo appeared in the office's doorway. He had been divested of his uniform coat, wearing instead a loose-fitting white shirt and, on his left arm, clean bandages. Whoever had dressed his arm went overboard with the wrapping. Had Gendo not been shocked at the sight of the clearly staggered Kozo he might have smirked.

"How is Commander Ikari?"

The doctor launched into an exhaustive diagnosis. Gendo Ikari preoccupied himself with a small mirror at the opposite end of the office. His own reflection was a tad fuzzy. His old glasses, he remembered, were gone now. _Yui_ had given him those frames. She had said they were handsome on him.

The first time he had lived through this day, his heart had ached at the thought of losing another link to Yui. Now, the second time through, the ache was more distant. Was that because...? No, he buried that thought. Besides, there were more important matters to deal with.

Like what the hell he was doing in the past.

Or his death.

But first...

Gendo turned toward Kozo Fuyutsuki, addressing him for the first time. "Rei?"

The older man sighed. "When I called they were drilling into her skull. Dr. Akagi says she'll make it, but she's sustained heavy injuries. It'll be maybe two months before she'll be able to pilot, barring complications. We'll know more later. Of course, that assumes Unit-00 will even be ready by then."

Gendo nodded. He looked at the doctor. "You're dismissed."

"Yessir."

The doctor closed the door behind himself. Gendo and Kozo studied one another's injuries.

Kozo thinned his lips. "That looks like it will be... uncomfortable."

"Yes," Gendo replied, holding up his bandaged hands, "and I'll need someone to open my ketchup bottles for me."

Kozo barked a laugh, more at the absurdity of Gendo Ikari making a joke than at the joke itself. Gendo smiled. He had thought of that one the last time around, late at night in bed, some weeks after Unit-00's rampage. Now the joke was a bit timelier.

Gendo gestured to Kozo's arm. "How is that?"

"It _hurts_, actually. They gave me something for it, but it hasn't kicked in yet." He shrugged. "Still, it could have been worse."

Actually, it was supposed to be better. Kozo hadn't been injured at all the first time around. The timeline he remembered had been changed. Which begged the question: what else could be changed?

"Yes, you're fortunate." He squinted, and then moved to adjust his glasses. Halfway to his nose he realized he had nothing to adjust. "Damn it."

"I'm sorry about your glasses."

Gendo shook his head. "Never mind that. I can get new ones easily enough. What matters is how the Committee is going to respond."

"Not well, I imagine."

That much was true. As he recalled, Keel had been a tad... peeved... at the loss of NERV's only operating Evangelion and compatible pilot just a few weeks shy of the Angels' anticipated return. Gendo had had to broach the previously unmentionable subject of activating Unit-01 just to weather the storm.

The Committee. SEELE. Keel. The last time he had spoken to him Gendo had thrown his own plans in Keel's face. Keel had retaliated by unleashing hell on NERV. Now the dance between them both had wound back to the starting point... and Gendo knew _exactly_ what hand SEELE had to play.

There were possibilities there.

Endless possibilities.

"Don't worry. I have a plan."

Kozo snorted. "I wouldn't expect less."

Gendo stood up slowly, careful to keep his hands from brushing against anything. "We need information before we go to the Committee. Until Rei comes out of surgery we should deal with Unit-00. If it truly is unusable we will need to prepare to activate Unit-01."

"Unit-01?" Kozo considered the idea. "I suppose if Rei were fit enough by the time the Angels returned... it could work. It's a lot to bet on the Oni System."

"We don't have a choice." Did he have a choice, or was he damned to repeat the past? Kozo's arm seemed to say otherwise. "Unless we defeat the Angels we have no future."

That much, at least, was still true.

* * *

The rest of the day proceeded much as Gendo recalled. Rei came out of surgery with the prognosis of a long recovery, though this time the bleed in her brain hadn't been as dangerous. Keel and the Committee were again peeved, though receptive to the idea of activating Unit-01 if the time came. Gendo's plan to endanger his own son to make the Evangelion go berserker was once again received as especially inspired. Finally, Dr. Akagi delivered a familiar initial report on Unit-00's rampage.

Gendo bid Kozo an exhausted "good night" sometime past midnight. However, instead of retiring to his Geo-Front quarters, he went for a walk. As the skyscrapers of Tokyo-3 glittered in their cradles overhead Gendo wandered aimlessly along the various walkways and gardens that populated the Geo-Front's "surface".

Gendo Ikari did not think as he walked. He let the motion of the exercise fill his soul, taking the place of reflection. If his mind concentrated on anything, it was the sensation of pulverized stone crunching under his dress shoes and the faint smell of pollen on the nighttime breeze. Sometimes he came upon other people, NERV employees drifting across the landscape as they changed shifts, but always he kept his distance, watching them walk upon the illuminated walkways as he himself stood on a darkened hillside or hidden behind a clutch of trees. Mostly he just walked and that was it.

He did this for hours. The exhaustion he felt replaced by a strange wariness. He didn't reflect upon the character of this sentiment. He didn't dare. He had to resist. To do otherwise, to let even a sliver in...

Gendo Ikari shuddered in the night.

At last, however, the body overwhelmed the spirit. With only a few hours until dawn, he made his way to his quarters. He could barely keep his head level as he walked past the ever-present security detail.

Mind empty and body exhausted, Gendo Ikari collapsed into his bed, hoping to dream a dreamless sleep.

* * *

His hopes were for naught.

* * *

Several hours later, Gendo Ikari awoke in a sweat. Sluggishly, he rolled out of bed and into the shower, trying to wash away the images of blood and fire that had filled his night. Afterwards he toweled off and dressed in his standard uniform. For a few seconds, he looked for his glasses; he wasn't sure which pair exactly. He settled for his clunky emergency spare. He tried putting them on, fumbling with his bandaged hands, but had to stop and walk away when he started shaking all over.

Retreating to the living room area, Gendo Ikari slumped down onto the couch. The cushions were stiff. They had never been used enough to be broken in. Yui had picked the couch.

"Damnit."

Gendo stared at the ceiling. Yui had wanted to paint it a warmer color. They had never decided on one before the accident. Not that it was an accident.

"Damnit!"

She had planned on it. Wanted it. Wanted to merge with Unit-01 so that a part of humanity could live on forever. Wanted Gendo to protect Shinji-

"DAMNIT!"

-to love him, to watch over him now when she was gone, to carry on with their original plan to stop SEELE and the Third Impact and-

"GODDAMNIT! WHY?! WHY ME, GODDAMNIT!?"

Gendo Ikari, Supreme Commander of NERV and all around diabolical mastermind, cradled his head in his bandaged hands and wept.

To anyone who watched it (no one was) the tears and screams and curses would have been an angry jumble of emotion. Years of private rage and repressed thoughts threatened to drown Gendo Ikari. Memories of a year gone by – a year that had yet to come for the world – filled his mind. Nothing he could do kept the memories at bay. The riptide dragged him down: Shinji, Rei-II, SEELE, the Angels, Ritsuko, Rei-III's betrayal, the Third Impact, his bitter reunion with Yui, facing the truth about himself, and, finally, his death at the hands of Unit-01.

His son's hands.

Some time later, Gendo uncurled himself from the fetal position. The hot tears on his face dried. The uncontrollable shaking subsided. And his mind, his brilliant mind, the steel trap of a mind that had captivated Yui all those years ago, began to do what it did best.

Plan.

* * *

The sound of machines filled the otherwise quiet hospital room.

Rei didn't know he was there. She was in a drug-induced coma. It would be... two days? Two days before they would bring her out of it. But he liked to think she could feel him somehow.

Gendo Ikari closed his eyes.

No, that wasn't it, he realized. He had come here for himself, not for her. He knew why he had felt the compulsion to come here. He wouldn't name it, though. Not even to himself. It was... too much. He had enough to deal with right now. The rest could wait.

"Rei."

The beeping of the cardiac monitor was her only response.

"I want you to know something. This time will be different. I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. _Whatever the cost_."

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"I've been given a second chance. By Yui? By God? I don't know who. I don't know why. But I know that I intend to use it."

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"This time... we'll win."


	3. Recruitment Drive

* * *

# # # presenting # # #

* * *

**TAKING SIGHTS**

**Chapter 02 Recruitment Drive**

**Written by: Lavanya Six**

**(please dont sue)**

* * *

# # # another installment in a continuing series # # #

* * *

"Very stylish. But orange?"

Gendo Ikari remained impassive. "The saleswoman assured me that this style is apparently all the rage among assholes."

Kozo chuckled dryly. "If I didn't know better, Ikari, I'd think you were being self-depreciative."

"No, just honest." He flexed his gloved hands tentatively. The itching still hadn't died down. "Where do we stand on Unit-01?"

"The initial diagnostics have been very positive considering its been in cryo-status all these years. Doctor Akagi estimates it'll be ready for a full activation test by this time tomorrow."

"Just in time."

"Ikari?"

"I understand Tokyo-2 has finally released our Chief Operations Officer to us."

"Yes. Wasnt it nice of them to approve the transfer _eight_ _months_ after we requested it?"

"It'll be nicer still when we can do away with the fiction that theyre in charge of us." Gendo adjusted his glasses. Why had he bought this pair again? The nose pieces had always been shoddy. Still, what good was change just for the sake of change? "When does she arrive?"

"She's already here. I believe Doctor Akagi is giving her the tour of the place. They're old friends, after all." Kozo rubbed his shoulder. "She's due to report for duty officially at tomorrow mornings staff meeting."

Gendo remembered. She had been hung-over. Kozo hadn't been impressed. Hed tried to convince him to fire her.

"Why wait?" Gendo Ikari stood up from his desk. "Let's go meet the Major."

"...Captain."

"Hmm? Oh. Yes. Pardon me."

* * *

"So this is the MAGI, huh? The original?"

Behind her old friend, Doctor Ritsuko Akagi nodded. "Yes."

Captain Misato Katsuragi, detached from the United Nations Combined Military Forces (UNCMF), whistled. "Nice. Bigger than Tokyo-2's."

"They're functionally identical, actually. However, since these were the prototype seventh generational super-computers their development required a lot of hands-on work. That's why the casings are so prominent. We werent so concerned with aesthetics during the beta. The copies around the world were built from the final design."

Misato pointed to CASPER. "And since the primary and secondary Command Centers use a modular design, the tower instillation of the MAGI allows for easy transfer should the need arise. Very handy for a city going to war."

Dr. Akagi raised a carefully plucked eyebrow. "Very good, Misato."

"I've been studying. There hasn't been a lot for me to do lately back in Tokyo-2. Just shuffling paperwork between the UN, NERV, and the JSSDF."

"Every little bit helps the war effort," joked Ritsuko.

"Tell me about it." Misato surveyed the Command Center, her fashionable black dress clashing with the uniformed NERV staff. "Is it always this quiet around here?"

"Yes," replied Ritsuko, "though you should have been here two weeks ago."

"You mean the incident with Unit-00 and the First Child?" Misato asked, her voice lowered from its usual high boisterousness.

"You've read the report?"

"What wasn't redacted."

"I'll tell you more over dinner tonight. I know this great German place. You'll love the beer they h-"

"Sempai! Sempai!"

A young, slim technician hurried over to Dr. Akagi's side. The blond woman was somewhat irritated at this interruption. "What is it, Maya? Is that pig in Division Four giving you lip again? You outrank him."

The woman, one Maya Ibuki, was bug-eyed. "The Commander is coming here!"

"What? When?"

"Now!"

Misato turned to Ritsuko. "I thought you said he was in meetings all day! How can I meet him wearing this-"

"Lovely dress?"

The three women turned around. There, standing atop a platform lift, were the Commander and Vice-Commander of NERV. And, horribly, Commander Gendo Ikari was smiling. Not smirking. Not grinning slyly. _Smiling_.

The three women, Ritsuko in particular, openly stared at the bizarre sight. Misato, who only knew Gendo Ikari by reputation, thought to herself that it looked like the rest of his face didn't quite know what to do with the smile. It was as if the soprano in an opera had suddenly burst into rap, forcing the rest of the cast to desperately try to carry on with the normal show in spite of the performance being derailed.

Commander Ikari, perhaps sensing their reaction, let his face lull into a neutral, vaguely irritated expression. The three women relaxed. He asked, "What do you think of NERV?"

"It's, uh, nice." Inwardly, Misato cursed herself. _Nice? You moron! What the hell kind of thing is that to tell your boss? Or any man, for that matter!_

"I should hope so." Gendo stepped off the lift and made his way towards the trio. Kozo followed close behind. "Considering the billions the UN has poured into our little company town, I think we can afford a little niceness."

Nervous, Misato smiled.

Gendo Ikari walked right up to her. For a moment, the three women stared at the bearded menace towering over them. Ritsuko, for her part, also made a mental note to compliment him on his lovely new glasses the next time they had dinner together.

After an awkward pause, Gendo saluted. "Captain Katsuragi."

Years of training snapped Misato into a reflexive salute. "Commander Ikari, reporting as ordered, sir! Please forgive my lax state of dress, sir, but-"

"All is forgiven, Captain." Gendo lowered his salute. "At ease."

Misato relaxed.

Gendo glanced at Ritsuko. "Doctor, has the Captain been familiarized with Central Dogma?"

"Yes, Commander. We're still in the middle of our tour, but the Captain has demonstrated an in-depth knowledge of both the NERV and Tokyo-3."

"Excellent." He turned back to Misato. "Captain Katsuragi, I was wondering, are you free for a little get-together tonight?"

"_What?_" the three women chorused.

Misato and Maya missed the stink eye Ritsuko shot the Commander.

"I'm planning on making a trip tonight to recruit a new pilot for the program. A stopgap is necessary until the First recovers."

Behind him, surprise washed over Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki's face. It slowly morphed into dread. Doctor Akagi was at a loss. "Sir," she said, "I was unaware of any report by the Marduke Institute regarding the Third. Surely-"

The Commander waved a hand dismissively. "Paperwork and red tape. I'll see to it that copies are forwarded to you and the Captain by the end of the day."

Of course, sir, Misato said. "I'll gladly accompany you on tonight's mission. I only ask that I be given time to change into proper attire."

"Meet me on the Number 17 helipad at 14:30 hours. That should give you enough time to find your uniform. A VOTL will take us to our destination." He nodded. "Good day, Captain. Doctor."

With that, both men turned back to the lift. The three women glanced at one another. Before the Commanders left, Misato called out, "Sir? If I may ask, what is this Third Child's name?"

"Well," Gendo Ikari mused, "if you must know..."

* * *

"Ikari, what the FUCK are you thinking?"

"Language, Fuyutsuki."

Back in the Commander's office, the elder Fuyutsuki was bent over the Commander's desk. Without the Third Angel bearing down on Tokyo-3 he was much less receptive to idea of recruiting Shinji. Gendo idly wondered if the man would actually hit him.

The unexpected was quite exciting. Hed missed it.

"-and WHY are you SMILING?! Have you been listening to a word I've said?!"

Gendo froze. _Damnit_. Had he slipped again? He needed to watch that. Whimsy would be the death of him if he kept getting caught up in idle thoughts. "Yes, I have. And I understand your anger. But we have no choice."

"No choice?! This is no emergency! Ayanami will be cleared for pilot status in little over a month! That's just before the scheduled scenario regarding the Angels' return! There's no reason to put your son" from the way he said it Gendo understood Kozo meant 'her son' "in the firing line when we'll have the First ready and trained to pilot Unit-01!"

"Incorrect," he adjusted his glasses. "The Third Angel will attack in three days."

Fuyutsuki stiffened.

"The scenario was inaccurate. Using new information, I have revised it to more perfectly reflect reality."

_That was one way of putting it._

"I haven't heard of this new information."

"Neither have the old men. I intend to keep it that way."

"Fair enough... but how can you be sure, Ikari?"

"I can't tell you."

"Not good enough, damn it! Not good enough!"

Gendo leaned back into his chair, his spine creaking as he did so. Not for the first time did he curse Japanese school desks and the poor posture they instilled in him during his malleable youth. "What do you want from me, Fuyutsuki? My source? Well, I can't tell you that. I've kept secrets from you in the past. We both know that. Get used to it. Yui kept secrets from me too."

Fuck. He did it again. Where had his self-control gone? And would his balls soon follow?

"Ikari, I want your _trust_." He sighed. "I've committed myself body and soul to the plan. I think I've earned it."

"And you have it." He cut off Kozo before he could speak again. "The matter is closed for the moment. But be rest assured, I will tell you everything when the time is right. You just have to be patient. Everything depends on it. The plan depends on it."

That is, the new plan.

This time Gendo suppressed his telltale smirk.

NERV's Vice-Commander gritted his teeth and hissed, "Fine! Play your games. See if I care. But don't bring the boy into it! There are any number of candidates on hand. Pick one of them."

"Unit-01 is the only working Evangelion capable of fighting an Angel. And we both know why the probability of it successfully synchronizing with a pilot candidate is 0.000000001 percent." He stared into Fuyutsukis eyes. "These two facts amount to one inescapable conclusion. Don't pretend you don't know that too."

"There's always Rei."

"She can't pilot now."

"There's an easy way around that."

"Absolutely not!" he snapped. "If anything, Rei's accident has made her _more_ loyal to me! Too much depends on her to throw that advantage away for short term gain."

"...fine." Kozo straightened up. "But do you actually believe Shinji will come back after you abandoned him?"

"He will, explained Gendo, when he thinks that I love him."

* * *

The VTOL cruised over the Japanese countryside. In its main cabin, two adults sat facing each other. One, the male, was resting. The other, a woman, sat quietly. Beside her were a few file folders and a briefcase.

Misato looked around, bored. This was not how she had expected to spend her last free day for a month.

"Is something wrong, Captain?"

Ikari's voice startled Misato. Her eyes darted over to the bearded man. He was still dozing in his seat, eyes closed. Or-

"I'm resting, Captain, but I'm awake. I've just had a long few days. If you have any questions, feel free to ask."

"Sir, what should I expect when we arrive? What's your son like?"

The Commander opened his eyes. Misato thought she saw emotion flash through them for just a second. Perhaps it had just been a trick of light; Ikari didn't strike her as the emotional type. "Ms. Katsuragi," he began, his voice subdued, "I haven't spoken to my son recently. In fact, the last time we spoke it was at a train station three years ago when I sent him back to live with his uncle. It was not a pleasant parting."

Misato was speechless. What the hell? Was he... confessing to her? She wasn't sure. He didn't sound that regretful. "That most of been traumatic for him. Would he even be willing to see you?"

"Captain, you must understand this about Shinji: he is, at heart, actually quite... gentle." Ikari seemed to stumble on that word. "He is also starving for any type of approval. Shinji's uncle, my late wife's brother, tolerates the boy, but only so much. I suppose he sees too much of me in the boy. Obviously he doesn't know me that well." Ikari gave a small laugh. "Shinji may hate me, but he's too mild to ever say it. He'd probably never even admit it to himself. And more than anything, he wants a relationship with me. For that he'd do anything." Gendo closed his eyes. "So, to answer your question, he will pilot. For me."

God_damn_, Misato thought to herself, _the man is ice_.

Silence settled over the cabin. The VTOL continued on its journey, chugging along. Misato paged through the Marduke Institute's report on the Third. It seemed to match what Commander Ikari had told her, though in more roundabout wording. The boy's psyche profile was riddled with half a dozen red flags. Still, she thought, that seemed to be par the course for Evangelion pilots. He seemed like a nice enough boy; troubled but cute.

The pilot paged the cabin, informing them that they were approaching the local airport.

"Captain, before we disembark, there is one other matter."

She set aside the Marduke report. "Yes?"

* * *

Misato looked out the car window. What a crappy little town. If she were Shinji she'd have jumped at the chance to leave this backwater for a real city. Commander Ikari probably counted on that too. Bastard. Well, at least he had the... what? Kindness was the wrong word. Respect? Wisdom? At least he'd had the wisdom to make that arrangement with her.

Gendo Ikari was a cool customer; not someone Misato would cross. If she did, she figured her career probably wouldn't be the only thing hitting a dead-end._. Poor Shinji_, she thought, _he doesn't stand a chance_.

* * *

Gendo Ikari was scared shitless.

Intellectually, he knew he had only seen Shinji twelve days ago. Third Impact. His death. Yu-

_Stop it! Don't think about that!_

For nearly a year in Tokyo-3 the two had been around each other with only minimal contact. Neither had made an attempt to avoid the other. Both of them had just... hadn't... tried to talk.

But that was a lie too. Shinji had tried occasionally. He'd fumble and second guess himself, but he'd tried. Gendo simply had no desire to reciprocate.

Had he mistreated Shinji? _Yes_.

Had he gone against Yui's wishes with Shinji? _Yes_.

Had he underestimated Shinji?

**_Yes_**

Last time, he had thought Unit-01 was the key to everything. Now he knew better.

Today was the first step in a long game. And if it required him to sit down with Shinji and-

His toes curled.

-talk with his son, then by God he would!

Gendo had given his word to Rei, and, despite what others thought of him, he kept his word when it came to the people who mattered most.

He had to admit that constituted a short list.

The armored car slowed to a halt.

_Remember why youre doing this, Gendo, and move forward regardless of the cost. Itll all be worth it in The End._

* * *

Shinji Ikari kept a tidy bedroom.

It was small, as most Japanese rooms were. Cultural inertia kept post-Second Impact architectural styles fairly unchanged despite the decrease in population pressure that had originally driven the need for commodity of space. Shinji, who spent much of his time in the bedroom, kept it meticulous. Every piece of clothing was normally clean, ironed, folded, and organized inside the dresser. His cello, when he wasnt practicing it or caring for it, usually sat in its case in the rooms sunless northwest corner. He had few other possessions, none of particular importance, but they too had their place.

Shinji himself found his place at his second-hand desk, sitting in a folding chair his uncle had bought at a yard sale, staring out the window at nothing in particular. He was waiting. Hed been waiting for a few hours now.

The door to the room was open. Shinjis uncle stepped in. "He's here."

Shinji nodded. "I'll be right down."

"Fine." He started to leave, but then paused. "Shinji, there's no point in getting your hopes up."

"I know."

His uncle left.

Shinji exhaled, releasing a breath he hadn't known he was holding in. With only a small tremble he stood up. On the desk, next to his SDAT player, he put down the piece of paper he'd been holding since the special currier showed up at his uncles house that morning.

The paper on the desk was a telegram. It read:

_I'm coming later today to talk. I hope you are well._

_-Father_

Shinji Ikari kept a tidy bedroom. So it was no surprise how quickly he had been able to pack it all up.

* * *

His son looked_ young_.

That got under Gendos skin. At the end, Shinji had been a broken shell of a person, yes, but he had also matured over the year-long war. Hed begun to exhibit the first signs of manhood in his tightened face, broader shoulders, and gangly legs. This child here had none of that. His eyes were bright and filled with hopeless longing, not pain.

And he was shorter. That was weird.

"Father," the boy said, fear creeping into his voice.

"Shinji," he said, forcing himself not to run, "how are you?"

"I-I'm fine."

God, who was this kid? Where was the Shinji who had stood up to him when Zeruel came crashing through Central Dogma? He'd cowed this one with barely a word.

He gestured to his left. "Allow me to introduce Captain Misato Katsuragi, Chief Operations Office of NERV."

The woman stepped forward with a smile and offered a handshake. "Pleased to meet you, Shinji!"

Shinji, a little hesitantly, met the hand with his own. "You too, Captain Katsuragi."

"Call me Misato."

Gendo cursed himself as he watched Shinji's eyes light up._ I should have offered to shake his hand. Every gesture of respect would go a long way today. _"I'm glad to see you're healthy, Shinji. Maybe later you could demonstrate your cello for the Captain? I've told her how good you are.

Shinji froze. "Y-you... know about my music?"

"Your uncle sends me a tape every month." And he did, though Gendo had never listened to them. He had thrown them away whenever he received a new one. Fuyutsuki always saved a few, however. This time around, shortly after the Unit-00 Incident, he had asked to borrow them. The music experts he had review the tapes had given him a detailed breakdown of Shinji's skills. To be fair, they had been impressed. "I listen to the one of Bach's _Cello Suite No. 1_ from your March recital quite often."

Shinji said nothing. Gendo suspected it was less that he didn't want to ruin the moment and more that he couldn't believe it had happened at all. Gendo almost felt bad about the necessary lie. He had actually listened to the Cello Suite, though he couldn't do so for long. His son's music, much like his default expression, was just too depressing. Even Fuyutsuki admitted he never listened to the tapes in order to be cheered up, and never while drinking.

"Why don't we find your uncle?"

"Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep you waiting." Shinji bowed, then turned and tried not to hurry away. "Uncle's in the sitting room. Follow me, please."

Captain Katsuragi gave him a sideways look.

Gendo adjusted his glasses. "Yes, Captain. He really is mine."

* * *

In the next room, Gendo and the Captain were seated at a couch across from Shinji and his uncle. On the coffee table between them were four cups of hot tea. Only Misato was drinking.

Yui's brother was as sour as Gendo remembered. He'd never approved of their marriage, considering Gendo too low class for his sister. After all, what sort of man took his wife's family name? Gendo didn't care what he thought. Yui had understood.

"So Gendo," the old asshole began, "what brings you up here? Business or pleasure?"

"Both, actually. Though neither concerns you."

"Typical. Then again, you never were the sort for a guilty conscious."

_If only you knew._ "I didn't come here to bicker with you. I came here to discuss something of great importance with my son. You can leave now."

"Leave? Why? Someone here has to watch out for the boy."

Gendo turned to Misato. "Captain."

Katsuragi retrieve a thick, cumbersome manila envelope from the briefcase she carried. She set it down as carefully as she could before the old asshole, though Gendo noted with approval that she dropped it a half an inch off the coffee table so that it produced a nice little thump and rattled the cups of tea in their saucers. The Captain then took a pen from her jacket, clicked it to ready, and presented it the old asshole.

"If this is a joke, I'm not amused."

Misato explained that it wasn't any such thing. "These are the legally required security forms you must fill out before you can be present for today's meeting. Commander Ikari, Gendo noted that the old asshole tensed at that surname, has granted special security clearance to Shinji for the duration of today's meeting. Due to time restraints, we wont be able to postpone today's meeting. If you would like to sit in, I recommend you begin filling out these forms immediately."

The old asshole was incensed. "That'd take all night! You'd be done by the time I finished!"

"Failure to obtain proper jurisdiction before sitting in on this meeting will be considered a treasonable act under Japanese law." Misato leaned forward. "But just between you and me, if you want to protect yourself against any possible accusation of unlawfulness I recommend being far outside of earshot."

"I can't even stay in my own house?! _This_ is the thanks I get after taking in _the boy_?! On the other side of the couch, Shinji wilted. What am I supposed to do for the rest of the day?"

"Well," mused Gendo, "on the ride down here I noticed that the bait shop up the road is having a sale on buckets of worms. I don't know much about fishing but I'm pretty sure 2-for-1 is a good sale any day of the week."

The old asshole stood up with a huff. "Fine. You want to talk with the boy? Take all the time you want." He looked over at Shinji. "Family reunions rarely involve signing off on security clearance. You were too quick with your room." And with that odd last statement the old asshole left, slamming the front door behind him.

Captain Katsuragi sighed. "That was too close. I thought he was actually going to fill it out just to spite me. That would have been awkward."

Shinji frowned. "I don't understand."

"These aren't clearance papers." She flipped open the official-looking NERV manila folder and showed it to Shinji. It was all blank paper. "I just raided my offices printer."

"But if my Fathers work doesn't matter today, why are you here?"

Gendo decided to speak. "The Captain is here because she works for NERV. I'm here because--"

"--because you need me for something, right?" Shinji was crestfallen even as he was bitter. "That's the only reason you'd come here."

_"I'm here because I have a use for you. I'm here because sending a telegram again probably wouldn't be the best way to establish a productive... _working_ relationship._ "I'm here," he explained, "because of your Mother."

* * *

All of Shinji's bitterness was forgotten. _Father _never_ talked about Mother._ He himself could barely remember her face. He didn't even have a picture of her. "What are you talking about?"

Father said, "Yui gave her life in the course of creating a better future for mankind. It's the same goal I've dedicated my life to since her death. I'll try to explain as best as I can about the Evangelion, the Angels, the Second and Third Impacts. About everything. You may not believe me, but hear me out. If at the end you want us to go our separate ways, I'll go. Is that agreeable?"

Shinji wasn't sure what to think of all that; half the things he'd mentioned didn't even make sense. What the hell did Mothers death have to do with the Second Impact? And _Third_ Impact? But there were so many other questions about her he had. This might be his only chance. "...fine."

It was dark out by the time his Father finished his impossible story of otherworldly beings and Adams and secret agencies and giant robots and Mothers accident. Shinji didn't want to believe it. The whole thing sounded like something a nutcase on a street corner would preach to passersby. And yet his Father sounded sincere. The raven-haired woman certainly wasn't fazed by any of the outlandishness.

"I won't make excuses for what's happened between us," Father said, sipping his cold tea. "It's too late for that. I don't think either of us would believe those words anyway. The simple fact is that I need you." Despite himself, Shinji felt his heart flutter. "I here for you because you're the only one who can take the last step in a fifteen year plan hatched by your Mother and I: to defeat the Angels and save the human race."

Shinji was at a loss. "I don't understand any of this!" he shouted. "You're mistaken! You want somebody else!"

"No, Shinji. I want you."

He stood up and walked to the window. He didn't think to do so; he just didn't want Father to see his troubled expression. "I cant possibly fight in a giant robot! It's insane! I wouldn't know the first thing to do!"

"We can train you," Father replied, "and you wouldn't be alone. There's another pilot your age that'd live with you if you moved to Tokyo-3."

"W-w-we'd live with you?"

"..."

"Father?"

"No."

* * *

Misato leaned against centripetal forces as the VTOL banked over the river valley below. Commander Ikari paused as he waited for the craft to finish its turn. When they leveled out, he started to explain himself to her. "These children are going to be placed under extreme stress," he began. "Over an uncertain period of time they'll randomly face an enemy of unknown quality who they'll have to kill in one-on-one combat. And, if they lose, the human race dies. The mental strain on a professional soldier would be enormous. But on a fourteen year-old? We'll be lucky if they aren't stark-raving insane by the end of the war.

"If we are to defeat the Angels, we will need to send children to war in our place. However, I am not willing to risk Shinji or any of the other pilots for that matter more than I have to. When they aren't fighting or training they need a stable environment anchored in a semblance of normality. They will go to school. They will have friends. They will come back at night to a home.

"I want to give them an anchor, Captain. That's why Shinji will live with you. That's why all of them will live with you."

"What?!" Captain Katsuragi was taken aback. "You mean Rei too? And Asuka?"

"Eventually, yes. Do you have a problem with this request?"

_'Request'_ my ass. "No, no! I agree. It's something I've been thinking about, actually. And it could help with unit cohesion. My only worry is if they all start fighting with each other. Three teenagers in one small apartment? That's a recipe for disaster."

"I see." He reached into his uniform jacket and retrieved a secure NERV cellular phone. He dialed a number. "Fuyutsuki? The major's apartment is too small to house the pilots. ...Yes. See to it." He put the phone away. "The matter will be taken care of before our return."

"Uh, sir, what's going to happen to my apartment?"

"Think of it as an early New Year's bonus, Captain."

"Right." She looked out the VTOL's window, taking in the devastated countryside. "But my concern isn't with floor space. It's with the human element. Shinji is your son."

"I'm under no delusion that I can repair my relationship with Shinji. If you'll pardon the clich, I've burned my bridges. But I can still see to it that he has a good home." Gendo looked uncomfortable. "Do you understand?"

Misato did.

* * *

Shinji sounded hurt. "Live with... her? Why not you, Father? Why come all this way?"

"I have responsibilities, Shinji. NERV is a worldwide organization. While it's primarily mission is to defeat the Angels my own role is largely political. I spend most nights aboard a suborbital jet, hopping from one corner of the planet to the other trying to keep NERV afloat. If you moved in with me you'd be moving into an empty apartment."

That and Ritsuko's bedroom stunk of tobacco. Owning your own place was always a perk when bedding women, even mentally unbalanced women you'd probably have to put down at some point.

"It's not ideal, I know, but life never is. We make do with what we have until we build something better. We can't run away from life because it's unpleasant. If we run away then well never be able to build that better life."

"..."

I won't lie to you. This will be the hardest thing you've ever done in your life. It may well be the last thing you ever do with your life. But the world needs you, Shinji. _I need you_."

"..."

"Will you come to Tokyo-3? Will you pilot Eva?"

He turned around. "Y-yes. I'll do it, Father."

Off to his side, Commander Ikari heard Captain Katsuragi let out a breath. He himself hadn't been so nervous about the outcome. _He caved,_ Gendo thought to himself._ Surprise, surprise._ "Thank you, Shinji."

Shinji looked exhausted. Gendo empathized. This was the longest he'd spoken with Shinji in well, either life. "I imagine your uncle has been skulking around outside for a while now. However, if you feel up to it, I was wondering if could play your cello for the Captain and I. All of us could do with some music, I think."

* * *

Misato stifled a yawn as she stood up. Shinji's relaxing music had almost lulled her into sleep. Today had been a long day and she wasn't even supposed to start work until tomorrow!

"Shinji," she said, on her way out the door, "I'll see you tomorrow."

He bowed at the waist. "Goodnight, Misato."

Later, back in the VTOL, Misato regarded the dozing form of Gendo Ikari with a curious eye. He was an interesting man, to be sure. Cold but realistic. Not a great father but NERV could do worse for a Commander.

As she watched, a smile slowly crept across his face.

_He looks like the cat that caught the canary,_ she thought.

Misato closed her eyes._ Definitely not a man to cross._

* * *

Gendo Ikari relaxed, satisfied that he'd put on a good show for all involved. Everything had gone according to the plan. Shinji was open, at least, to his wishes. He'd at least be able to use him against the Third Angel. After that? He wasn't sure. This was new territory; though Shinji was still Shinji and Gendo was still Gendo, despite what Yui told him and his dea-

_Stop it! Don't think about that!_

His knowledge of the Children's activities during the next year was spotty. The last time around he hadn't figured Katsuragi's reports would be of much use to him besides providing a ballpark estimate of Shinji's and Asuka's mental conditions. He hadn't looked at the little things. That had been Yui's department.

There would be changes to everyone's lives. What would be the point of this second chance if there weren't? He couldn't control them all. The world was too chaotic for that. He could, however, guide changes hand.

Pushing together the First and Third Child would be a fine place to start. Shinji would be good for Rei. In fact, if things went right, he could kill three birds with one stone. Rei would adore him (and _respect_ him) for giving her a new, better life. Shinji would get his surrogate family and, for the most part, leave him alone. And their raven-haired guardian? She would be the sweetest plum of all.

Gendo smiled to himself.

Captain Katsuragi was going to make an excellent doll.

* * *

**Authors notes:** Hopefully this chapter will put to rest any worries you might have about Gendo Ikari going soft. He may have had his reunion with Yui (before his death) but hes still a bastard at heart. But NERV needs a bastard if it's going to win the war against the Angels. Sorry this chapter was so slow. I needed to do some heavy-lifting with the characters in order to get them all into new positions for start of the series.


	4. I Came, I Saw, I

It had come to rest on the seabed fifteen years before, hidden under hundreds of meters of silt and debris, away from prying eyes. The shockwave from when the First Angel had "splashed" the Earth - shattering Antarctica, vaporizing its ice sheet, and knocking the planet off its axis - had carried the bus-sized burgundy stone from the South Pole over the equator. Eventually it had come to rest approximately four hundred kilometers east-southeast of Old Tokyo.

Over the years it slowly, imperceptibly grew. The rich red light within the round stone shined a little brighter with each centimeter the stone expanded. On the day Gendo Ikari awoke to his second life the stone was huge, dwarfing most of the skyscrapers that still graced the Earth's broken face. The greatest change, however, was within the stone. Against the red light, protected within the rock, was visible the hazy form of a hominid embryo.

For fifteen years it had grown and now - today - was its birth day.

It began with a tremor, the rock quaking from within. The dark giant within the rock flexed its body, uncurling from a fetal position. Energies unknown to man flowed through the embryo, causing it to tear and morph into something... otherworldly. It was born with a scream.

Around the newborn, the red rock dissolved away into its component elements, and the silt covering the rock rushed down to fill the new, irregular space. The creature would have none of that. Flexing its mind, the creature pulled itself up through the muddy cloud and into the water-scattered light of the sun.

The creature knew at the moment of its birth what it had to do. Turning about, the creature headed for the origin of the light it saw shine through all things transitory. Only there could it achieve Completion.

Only there would it, the Angel _Sachiel_, no longer be alone.

* * *

# # # presenting # # #

* * *

**TAKING SIGHTS**

**Chapter 03 - I Came, I Saw, I...**

**Written by: Lavanya Six**

**(please don't sue)**

* * *

# # # another installment in a continuing series # # #

* * *

Kozo Fuyutsuki was troubled.

He had gone to bed troubled. His sleep had been troubled. He had woken this morning troubled. Fuyutsuki knew why, yet he couldn't bring himself to talk about it. Really, who _could_ he talk about Gendo Ikari with?

"No one," he said to himself, alone in his private office. _Which is great for me because Gendo Ikari' and trouble' go together about as well as thermonuclear' and war'._

Kozo set down his pen, ignoring the ever-urgent, never-ending steam of paperwork that flowed across his desk. He took a breath, exhaled, and turned over the same problem in his mind once again.

_Gendo Ikari_. When Kozo got down to it, Gendo Ikari was starting to act out of character. It had started with the Incident with Unit-00 and his outburst with Rei. At first, Kozo allowed himself to dismiss the event as a random humane act, probably rooted more in Gendo's feelings for the woman Rei resembled than in the girl herself.

But that had only been the start of it! In the thirteen days since then Gendo had spent more time at Rei's side than he had... well, ever. And they were _talking_. Rei wouldn't reveal to Fuyutsuki what the two discussed. He doubted Dr. Akagi, the only other living person in' on Rei's secret, had any better idea. Not that Akagi would tell him even if she knew. Now more than ever, Ritsuko Akagi stunk of pettiness when the subject of Rei Ayanami was brought up.

Ikari had also started keeping long hours. Kozo knew he was working on_something_ in his personal laboratory, which in itself was unusual. Gendo had left the work of science behind after the two men had finished their collaboration on the design and production of Rei. Gendo wouldn't tell him what his new project was; only promising Fuyutsuki that he would be told everything in time. This on top of his supposed revised Angel scenario!

But Gendo's action with Shinji made the least sense.

Captain Katsuragi had relayed to him the events of yesterday's meeting in a private, late-night phone call. Afterwards Kozo was left with two conclusions: either Ikari had decided to take a more hands-on approach in manipulating Shinji in his grand plan... or he was finally genuinely trying to do right by the boy in an impossible situation.

Then again, with Gendo Ikari, why not both?

Still, it all amounted to a troubling set of circumstances. Kozo suspected he wasn't the only one to notice. Dr. Akagi had been incensed after Ikari's performance with the Captain yesterday, especially after watching him spending more time with Rei since the Unit-00 incident. Worse, SEELE's moles in NERV were undoubtedly monitoring Ikari's unorthodox actions. And if they were t-

Kozo's eyes caught on the clock. He cursed at the time. His introspection had distracted him and now he was going to be late for his meeting with the UN.

At least it hadn't happened while he was driving. Oncoming traffic didn't accept apologies. "Ikari, you're going to be the death of me."

* * *

"We have crossed the Absolute Borderline. The Third Child's synchronization rate is... 43.5!"

Dr. Akagi hovered over Lt. Ibuki's shoulder. "Harmonics are normal. No abnormalities," she said, reading off the screen. "It's working!"

A cheer rippled through Experiment Station-3. Misato clapped her blonde friend on the back. "Good work, Ritsu." She looked over to Lt. Hyuga. "How do Shinji's vitals look?"

"Elevated heart rate and blood pressure, but well within the green zone."

Misato picked up a mike from the console. "Shinji, are you okay?"

The intercom buzzed. "I feel like I'm breathing loogies."

Several of the technicians chuckled. Misato added wryly, "Be a man and tough it out."

Doctor Akagi got on the line. "You're doing fine, Shinji. You'll adjust to the LCL. We're going to run a few tests on our end, when we're done we'll have you try some basic movements. In the meanwhile why don't you explore the control interface? We've disabled it on our end so don't worry about accidentally causing your Eva to do jumping jacks."

"Yes, Dr. Akagi." Then the line closed.

"Maya, bring up the K7 tutorial on Shinji's HUD."

"Yes, Sempai."

Through the safety glass, Misato studied the inert form of Evangelion Unit-01. It really was a hell of a thing to look at. No wonder everyone called it the Oni System. "We've got a weapon."

"That we do," agreed Ritsuko, not looking up from over Maya's shoulder. "The only question remaining is if Shinji can use it."

"He'll have to." Captain Katsuragi sipped from the coffee cup in her hands. She had barely gotten any sleep after yesterday's recruitment blitz. "Even if the First was healthy I don't think we could risk passing Shinji up. He synched on his first try! It took Rei Ayanami seven months to do that and he's already outstripped her synch ratio by fifteen points."

"It's really quite amazing. The Second didn't even get this high a score until last November."

Misato smiled. "Well, I'll just have to throw him a little party tonight to celebrate."

"You aren't going to cook, are you? And by cook, I mean poison. And by poison, I mean kill."

A vein throbbed on Misato's forehead. "Watch it, Ritsuko! I know where your cats sleep."

The doctor paged Shinji. "We're finished with the initial tests. You should have control again. We'll start with moving the right arm."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

Rei finished her recitation.

"That was excellent," said Gendo. "I think you're ready."

"Thank you, sir."

"With any luck, I won't have to worry about Shinji killing me and then having him tear out his own eyes."

"That was a little joke."

"..."

"Oh."

"I have to go now. Unit-01 is undergoing its first synchronization test and I need to put in a good word." He stood up from his seat next to the girl's bed. "Barring any unforeseen delay I'll visit again tomorrow morning at the usual time."

"Commander?"

"Yes?"

"What would she think of me?"

Without hesitation Gendo lied. "She would have loved you."

* * *

Shinji couldn't scrub deep enough. That foul yellow liquid had seeped into each and every pore. He could swear he even felt a thin film of it coating the back of his eyeballs. _And I thought vomiting it out would be the worst part._

After a long, satisfying hot shower, Shinji dressed. He wore the old school uniform he had come to Tokyo-3 in, though sometime during the synch test someone had gone to the trouble of cleaning it. Misato was waiting for him outside the locker room.

"You were in there for quite a while. You weren't doing anything _naughty_ in the shower, were you?" teased the Captain.

"W-w-w-w-what! No! Why would you think that?"

"A likely story." The woman offered forward two beverages. "I thought you could use something to calm your nerves but I wasn't sure what you drank, so I got you a Coke and a coffee."

"Uh, thank you very much, Captain Katsuragi, but I'm not very thirsty right now."

"Oh. I suppose that makes sense." She tossed the cup of coffee into a nearby trash can and cracked open the soda to drink herself. "And, please, call me Misato. We're going to be living together, right? Besides, Captain Katsuragi' makes me feel old."

"I don't think you're old, Miss Misato."

"Thanks, Shinji!"

"You must be pretty good to be in charge of the fight against the Angels. I mean, they wouldn't trust just any thirtysomething to run a war!"

"Twenty-nine," snarled the raven-haired woman.

"Oh! I'm s-s-sorry. You just look so mature."

"Shinji?"

"Yes, Miss Misato?"

"Stop digging."

"Yes, Miss Misato."

The Captain downed the last of her soda in one long chug, then crunched the can and tossed it nonchalantly over her shoulder. She smiled at Shinji. It was oddly reassuring to him, almost motherly. "You haven't seen too much of the Geo-Front yet. Let's take a walk and I'll show you a few nice spots. We can hit the Skytop Caf for a late lunch; it's a heck of a view."

The pair started walking to the elevator at the corridor's end.

"I'm not really that hungry."

"You're a growing boy! You should eat something before we start your combat training. What if you get hungry during the test? You'd only have the MREs in the Entry Plug's emergency kit."

"MREs?"

Misato called the elevator. "Trust me, you don't want to know."

The car arrived. The doors opened.

Gendo Ikari stared out.

"F-Father."

"Shinji," he grunted. "Captain, I need to speak with my son." Misato was presented with a sealed envelope. "Take this letter to the Vice-Commander. It concerns your orientation to NERV. You will find him in the G-77 teleconference room."

"Yes, sir."

With that the two Ikaris were left alone with one another.

"So," his Father said.

Shinji gulped.

"Let's eat."

* * *

Despite a lack of hunger and a growing queasiness at his Father's company, Shinji tore into his sandwich. He didn't know what was slapped between the two slices of bread - his father had simply ordered two of the Skytop Caf's daily special - but he wasn't mindful of the taste. Shinji just wanted not to have to look his Father in the eye.

_Why does he stare straight ahead when he chews? Who does that!_

Not Shinji. He knew meals were meant to be eaten with averted eyes and minimal conversation. His father wasn't so mindful. Gendo Ikari lectured him on the operations of NERV and the history of Tokyo-3 without saying anything meaningful. The man who had visited him the previous night was gone, replaced by someone who wouldn't talk about **them**.

He sighed.

_Maybe_, Shinji thought to himself, _there isn't anything left to talk about_.

"I apologize."

Shinji blinked.

When he looked up from his sandwich, his father's attention was off towards a window that looked down onto the floor of the Geo-Front. "I know this must be difficult for you; leaving your old life to come here."

"N-no, not really."

His father still wasn't looking at him. "You must have questions about NERV, the Evangelion."

Shinji was still coming to terms with the idea of _eating lunch with his father_, let alone doing so in an upside-down skyscraper suspended over a real Geo-Front. Life, he realized in a moment of insight, was strange.

Before he could stop himself, Shinji asked, "I want to know more about my mother."

Gendo Ikari frowned, sending a bolt of fear through Shinji. But when the old man spoke it was in a neutral tone. "And what do you wish to know?"

"I, uh, want to know more about her... work," he lied.

His father rewarded him with a curt nod. "Your mother was a brilliant geneticist. The finer detail of her work is beyond my own understanding of the subject. Fuyutsuki could tell you more." He paused. "Have you met the Vice-Commander yet?"

"No, Father."

"I'll arrange time for you two to talk after things settle down here. Fuyutsuki knew Yui longer than I."

Shinji was amazed. "He knew my mother?"

"He was her doctorate advisor at Kyoto University. They were friends."

Had he been older or more experienced in the ways of people, Shinji might have caught onto the slight tone of annoyance in his father's voice in that last word.

"All the fundamental work and engineering done on the Evangelions was by your mother and her team. Unit-01 was her final project. It was her hope for Unit-01 to usher in a new age for mankind." His father finally turned to look at him. Shinji tried not to flinch. "I think she would have approved of you piloting it."

Shinji digested that idea.

"What do you remember about your mother?"

"N-not much," he admitted. "I don't even remember her face."

His father grunted. "I'm afraid I can't help you. No photos of Yui remain. I had them all burned after her death." He shifted in his seat. "It was a decision made in haste."

"Oh."

"I prefer to remember your mother in this place." He gestured to the vista spread out below them. "In her work."

Shinji didn't say anything.

"To be honest, it is... hard for me to look at you sometimes, Shinji. There's too much of your mother in you. Especially in your eyes."

"Fa-"

But before Shinji could say more the cell phone Misato had given him began to ring. His father said, "That will be Doctor Akagi. They'll be waiting for you in the battle simulator." He stood up. "We should do this again. Once things of have settled down."

"Y-yes."

* * *

Nearly two kilometers below the Ikaris another conversation was taking place.

"An Eva? Wait... no... it's - oh my sweet God." Misato took a half-step back. "It's the First Angel. Adam." She snapped towards the Vice-Commander. "What the HELL is the First Angel doing here? Or doing _alive_ for that matter?"

"This isn't the First Angel, Captain. This is the Second Angel, codename_Lilith_. And don't worry, it's quite inactive. All it's ever done is bleed. We found it here fifteen years ago, right before the Second Impact, when we first identified the sphere that we eventually retrofitted into the Geo-Front."

"_Retrofitted_?"

Fuyutsuki gestured to everything around them. "This chamber, the whole thing? It wasn't carved out of rock. It was already here. The Geo-Front sphere is of artificial origin and defies meaningful analysis. The layers of debris that filled the Geo-Front, on the other hand, allowed us to estimate the sphere's minimum age. The topmost layers were relatively modern by geological standards. As the excavation continued the rocky debris grew older. We only excavated three kilometers of the total sphere for NERV's facilities, not even a fourth of the total, but the deepest core samples we retrieved from eight kilometers down were analyzed and found to be on the order of four-point-five _billion_ years old."

"That's impossible."

"Yet here we are." Fuyutsuki directed Misato's gaze to the crucified giant. "And so is she."

Misato eyed the pale creature with contempt. "Why not destroy it?"

"The MAGI don't think we _can_," he emphasized. "Besides, why would we? Lilith continues to give us more information on Angel physiology than all our other sources put together. Besides, you should appreciate her. She's our flypaper."

Misato caught on. "Draw the Angels to one location so you don't have to fight them elsewhere. I figured NERV had something to attract them to Tokyo-3, otherwise why build the Evas for such limited range?" She glared at the giant. "I just didn't figure it was something like** that**."

"We're working on the power issue, but, yes, your analysis is correct."

"I understand the need to use the Second Angel as bait, but what happens when we've defeated all the other Angels? You're not seriously suggesting we let that... _thing_... stay here forever?"

"I have no idea what we'll do with it once the Angels are dead," the Vice-Commander said. "Hopefully we'll be able to get rid of it some day, but for now I'll settle for averting Third Impact." Fuyutsuki gave another glance at the white giant. The sight of it never failed to move him. "If we can't kill it and NERV has to guard the Second Angel until the end of history... then that's what we'll do."

"The end of history, huh?"

Fuyutsuki decided not to elaborate.

* * *

Gendo Ikari was nursing a much-needed drink when the Vice-Commander strode into his office. Putting his glasses back on, Gendo prepared for the lecture he felt sure his old friend was about to unleash.

"Kozo, did the meeting with the Captain go well?"

"_Oh_," hissed the Vice-Commander. "It went very well. The Captain took the Second Angel rather well, all things considered. She was, however, thoroughly appalled when I showed her the dumping ground for the Evangelion prototypes!" Fuyutsuki found himself starting to shake with rage. "While I was at it, I might have just as well shown her the _Dummy Plug Production Plant_, if only to make it three for three on NERV's vital secrets!"

"Actually, I want to hold off on that one for just a little while."

"_Oh?_ Just for a little while, huh?"

"Yes." Gendo sipped his drink. "Considering her hatred of the Angels, the Captain needs to start thinking of the First Child as a human being before we tell her about Rei's parentage. It's just common sense."

Fuyutsuki reached across the Commander's desk and slapped the drink out of his hands. The glass flew in a long arc and shattered several feet away on the floor. The Vice-Commander got into Gendo's face and screamed, "THIS! ISN'T! FUNNY!"

Ikari sighed and adjusted his glasses. "If you have a problem with my command decisions, Professor, I suggest you share them with me like a civilized person. Didn't you use to tell me that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent?"

"Don't make me laugh," snorted Fuyutsuki.

"If you have something to say, say it."

"**FINE!"** shouted the Vice-Commander. "God, where do I even START? You spend all your free time either with Rei or cooped up alone in that lab of yours. You're throwing away YEARS of conditioning Rei to be unemotional and antisocial by having her play house with Shinji. You spill vital secrets to a woman who has yet to prove herself as a competent war strategist, let alone as someone worthwhile of little things like _loyalty_ and _trust_. And, somehow, you know exactly when the Angels will return." Kozo leaned in close, putting his nose an inch away from his superior's. "Ikari, I want an explanation for your actions, and don't screw around with me!"

Gendo Ikari, expression neutral, stared into his friend's eyes for a moment before beginning with a question. "Fuyutsuki, what do you think Yui would have wanted?"

The former professor was taken aback. "...what?"

Gendo Ikari stood up. Kozo let him go. NERV's Commander walked over to the window-wall that gave a stunning view of the Geo-Front's garden surface. His gaze, however, was not fixed on this world. "Everything we've... I've... done, do you think Yui would have approved?"

"Mostly? Yes." He explained, "It helps me to remember that even Yui's hands weren't exactly clean of this business. She knew sacrifices needed to be made for the good of mankind."

Gendo just stared out the window.

"What is this all about? And don't dodge my original question."

"Yui's accident," he said. "It wasn't an accident."

_He figured it out. He knows. He knows I knew. Oh God. _Fuyutsuki clamped down on his face, letting only a hint of surprise and worry slip past his mask. "What on Earth are you talking about?"

When the Commander stayed silent for a long while, Fuyutsuki just waited. The old man could feel the hairs on his arms prickle. Something was about to happen, something important. But when he finally did speak, Gendo Ikari didn't make a smug proclamation or a vague quip. Instead he slumped forward, deflated, and placed one gloved hand against the glass wall for support.

_What the hell?_

Ikari's voice was wet with bitterness. "It's all for nothing, Professor."

"Gendo," Fuyutsuki said, slowly, "please talk to me."

So he did.

* * *

The JSSDF cruiser _Kaga_picked up the first signal at a quarter past six. SONAR registered a large unidentified anomaly moving west towards the Japanese mainland. This puzzled the crew. After some time checking and rechecking the ship's electronics, they decided that the anomaly was no error. The ship forwarded their preliminary findings to the JSSDF Naval Command in Matsushiro. In the meanwhile,_Kaga_ dispatched two helicopters for reconnaissance.

* * *

Gendo pushed the bourbon over to Kozo. "You think I'm insane."

"Admittedly, it's a hard story to believe." The old man poured himself another glass, filling up well above the point he customarily cut it off. Gendo hadn't seen him indulge like that since Yui's wake. "But I don't think you're lying and I don't think you're crazy." Kozo shot him a glare. "And no, before you make some quip, I'm not just saying that so I can get you away from the gun you keep in your desk."

Gendo sniggered. He was a little drunk. "I've thought about that a lot lately."

"That you're crazy? Or about using the gun?"

"Both." He tilted his glass, enjoying the soothing clink of the half-melted ice within. "Fuyutsuki, it's a hell of thing to die."

_Stop it! Don't think about that!_

He rubbed his brow. "There's part of me that can't... _won't_... accept what happened; maybe because it's too awful to contemplate. I can only really deal with it in a circular fashion. I think about Yui. I think about Shinji. I think about Rei. I don't think about everything, how they all fit together. That's too much."

Kozo didn't say anything. He just sipped his drink.

Gendo blabbered on. "Third Impact was a colossal failure. I was there, Fuyutsuki. I _died_ but I still saw it - Instrumentality. Completion. Everything we ever wanted, just with my son in charge. Too bad he was insane."

He jostled the ice a bit more. It was such a _nice_ sound.

Kozo asked, "What exactly do you mean by... insane?"

"Exactly that. He lost it. Snapped. You should have heard his **scream**. I always knew he had a set of lungs on him. Yui said so when he took his first breath. Bet she didn't think he'd go out the same way." He took a long drink. "Mmm. Anyway, after that the AT-Fields went down and the whole world joined him. Screaming, that is. It's a hell of a thing to listen to a whole world to die, to be a part of the choir."

When his friend didn't comment, Gendo glanced over. The look on Kozo's face sobered him a bit. "I'm not crazy."

"Like I said, I don't think you are. You're the sanest person I've ever known, bar Yui. You've just... been through a traumatic experience."

"Yes."

"I just wish we knew why you're here."

"I've thought about that myself. A lot. I can't figure it out. Maybe something happened during the final stage of Instrumentality. If it did, I don't remember. After my... death... I was a little confused. Having my soul reaped along with three billion other people didn't help matters.

"I remember a few fragments. Shinji screaming. The Giant of Light. Unit-02's carcass. Flying over the Earth surrounded by millions of tiny red lights - souls, I think they were. Unit-01 consumed by Lilith. Then... _nothing_. Nothing at all. The next thing I know I'm waking up in Experiment Station #2 and Unit-00's going berserk."

Kozo took away Gendo's drink and its clinking ice. The two men locked eyes. "What are you planning?"

"What makes you think I'm planning anything?"

"Aside from the fact you're you? How about everything odd you've done since you started... _started over_? Let's call it that."

Gendo sighed. "Sorry to disappoint you, old man, but my plan's shit."

"I doubt that very much."

"You don't know enough to doubt anything. I've spent every waking moment since Yui's... disappearance... working towards being reunited with her. I built contingencies into contingencies. You can't do what I do and not worry about bumps in the road. You prepare for anything. Just look at the Children. Or Doctor Akagi. You think people end up like that - fitting perfectly into the scenario - without conditioning?"

"I'm well aware of what we did to the Soryu girl... and of your affairs with the Doctors Akagi."

Gendo missed his ice. "Well, after a certain point you can't change people. I'm not even sure I can change myself. And even if I can, what can I do? Really? It's just all so... inevitable. I've made a perfect, inescapable trap for myself with my damn plan. There's no rational way out, Kozo, except maybe sweet death."

"I never thought I'd see the day - Gendo Ikari _wallowing_ in self-pity."

"_What?_ No."

"Yes you are." Kozo leaned towards him. "You can't face it, can you?"

"And what would that be, old man?"

"That you were _wrong_."

He snorted. "Fine. I was _wrong_. See? I just disproved your hypothesis."

"No. You're just running away from the issue. Why are you laughing?"

"It's nothing. Go on."

"Gendo, I'm about as close to a friend as you have in this world. I've known you for the better part of a decade and a half now. I think I know a little something about your character." Kozo pointed one of those bony old man fingers at his face. "See, you can only do one thing at a time, and you need that one thing as a focus to obsess on. When I first met you, it was all about getting ahead. You were just some street thug going all out for a university degree. Then when it got that you couldn't find a job with your precious prize you fell back to being the best street thug with a doctorate there could be. And then you met Yui."

"Shut up, Fuyutsuki."

"Yui never said a bad word about you, Gendo. She trusted you in a way she never did with me. And when I started working here I saw why. You lived for Yui. GEHIRN came second. Hell, sometimes I wondered if the only reason you got into bed with SEELE was because Yui was so deep in that muck already."

"I'm serious, Fuyutsuki."

"You were also a good father, as hard as that is to remember."

_Except for that time I was watching Shinji and he almost drowned in the bathtub. Or when I found him playing with that can of bug spray. God, Yui never would have forgiven me if she knew how terrible I was at being a father._ "I **will** hit you and break your brittle old man face."

"Screw off, Rokobungi," snapped Kozo. "Let me get to my point."

"Fine. But only because you're holding the bourbon hostage."

"Yui died. Disappeared. Whatever. You didn't know what to do. So you start working on a new plan to get back to what you did know - Yui."

"Ah, yes. I like this part of the story. It's where you finally get your hands dirty committing crimes against nature."

"Using Yui as the donor for Rei was _my_ idea, yes. _You_ didn't object."

"I should have. Sentimentality never pans out for me."

"But you did it - The Human Complement Program. The principles were sound. It worked. Everything went as planned, more or less."

"More less than more."

"Don't interrupt! _You_ got to see Yui again. It's not my concern if she hated you." He paused. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It wasn't a surprise."

"Ikari... look, now - somehow - you've been give a second chance at life. Just because things didn't turn out like you wanted doesn't mean you can just give up. Throughout history, people have dreamed of what's happened to you. What do you intend to do with the opportunity?"

Gendo belched.

"Don't hide behind drink. I know you better than that."

"I honestly don't know, Kozo. I'm making this new plan up as I go along." The Commander of NERV slumped over onto his own desk, enjoying the cool feeling of polished wood on his face. "The only two things that have mattered to me in the past two weeks have been Rei and Shinji."

"Let's start there. Are you trying to be a real father to Shinji?"

The desk felt _very_ nice.

"Answer the question."

"I don't think I can be a father, but yes, I'm trying. If only so I don't have to hear his scream anymore."

"And what about Rei?"

"Rei is... complicated."

"You've been spending a lot of time with her. What have you been talking about?"

Gendo traced a doodle in the dust on his desk. "This and that. About her. About me. About Yui. About Doctor Akagi. About Ritsuko. About Shinji. About you, Fuyutsuki. I think she might have a little crush on you."

_That_ caught him off-guard. "Wait. What?"

"I could be wrong. It's hard to tell. Rei doesn't express herself that well. It might be something more like a normal child would feel for an uncle. Or a father."

"..."

"Anyway, that's pretty much all we talk about."

"And what about having her moving in with Captain Katsuragi and Shinji? From what you described, it doesn't sound like that arrangement worked out too well for the Second and Third the last time around."

"A-ha." He held up a dusty gloved finger. "That's all part of the plan."

Fuyutsuki frowned. "You said you didn't have a plan."

"I said my plan was shit'. I never said I didn't have any plan."

"Does this plan involve stopping Third Impact? Stopping SEELE?"

"Yes. No. Maybe." Gendo groaned. "You don't understand."

"You're confused. Considering what you've been through, anyone would be confused, but you can't afford to be."

"Now you're confusing me, Professor Fuyutsuki." Gendo picked himself off the desk. "I've been thinking and planning ever since I... died." He shivered. "But there's no good solution to my problems. I'm in a hell of fix, old man. Too much groundwork has been laid for the old plan, too many deeds done just to back off now. I was too brilliant. I didn't leave myself any loopholes or outs. I didn't think I'd need them. They were too risky."

"Well, what's your endgame? When can work back from there."

He counted out slowly with gloved fingers. "Save Rei. Save Shinji. Stop Third Impact, now and forever. Expose SEELE for their crimes." Gendo stifled a yawn. "Oh, and I'll probably need to kill Keel Lorenz while I'm at it. He's too much of a bastard to risk leaving alive."

Kozo Fuyutsuki arched an eyebrow. "Okay. We can start there. How are you going to kill the most secretive, well-protected man on Earth?"

Gendo smiled. "Well, there I do have a plan."

"Wonderful! Let's hear it."

He explained.

Fuyutsuki did not take it well. "Goddamn it, Ikari! What the _hell_ kind of plan is THAT?"

"One that will work."

"One that will get us put on trial as war criminals!"

"Professor," Gendo drawled, "we ARE war criminals."

"..."

"**If** we're still alive at the end of this, and **if** we're very lucky, they might just give us a show trial **before** they execute us. We've both done enough to have it happen that way. I'm an accessory to the Second Impact - regardless of the intentions of Yui or I at the time - and you're at least complicit in, oh, seven or eight crimes against humanity by now. None of which counts what we'll be forced to do in the course of defeating the Angels." He smirked. "Though I have to admit it's very easy to read statistics about hundreds of thousands people starving to death for lack of aid funding when you get to sit in my comfy chair."

"God damn you, Ikari." With that, Fuyutsuki downed the rest of his drink.

"He just may have."

* * *

In a familiar apartment history was repeating itself.

"I... I'm home."

"Welcome home."

* * *

Gendo hadn't even taken his dress coat off when someone knocked on the door. Only three people in the world had the privilege of dropping by his apartment unannounced and one of them was in the hospital. That left two people Gendo Ikari didn't feel like dealing with tonight. Grimacing, he opened the door.

Doctor Ritsuko Akagi flashed one of her little sly smiles that Gendo supposed she felt so endeared him to her. "I'm here for the_strategy__ session_."

Damn! He'd forgotten. Dealing with his son and Fuyutsuki had taken up all his mental space for the day. He really didn't need to deal with this now. He just wanted to sleep.

"Commander? Is this a bad time? I... I can come back later."

_Sorry, I have trouble getting it up with a woman I drove insane and murdered. Oh, you understand? How about some tea instead? It's quite good. _"I missed your company these past days." _No use in antagonizing her. Not yet._

Ritsuko ate that up. "Really?"

Gendo flexed his burned hands. The scar tissue would never be that sensitive. No great loss. "Just so you know, this time around the gloves stay on."

She stepped inside. "Kinky."

He closed the door.

* * *

Sachiel become aware of Others.

With senses that defied human description, the Angel reached out with its mind to study the strange creatures that were approaching him in the sky above the endless ocean. It had no concept of JSSDF' or helicopters'. It did recognize, however, the stink of Lilith's brood.

Sachiel concentrated.

A cross-shaped blast bloomed out of the water, vaporizing the lead helicopter before the crew even had a chance to process the screaming sound that immediately preceded the attack. The shaft of heavenly pink light stood nearly half a kilometer tall at its full height, with the crossbeam' portion stretching a fifth of a kilometer horizontally. The _Kaga's_mystified crew was just able to make out the event as a bizarre gloamin on the sky's southern horizon.

The pilot of the trailing helicopter veered dangerously to starboard, almost throwing the craft into the water. While this maneuver was entirely unintentional, the result of shock at an impossibly otherworldly event, it did manage to save the helicopter from the second cross-shaped blast. Retreating, the crew of the second craft could only stare in horror at what they had just witnessed.

Now headed in opposite directions, Sachiel put the annoyances out of its vast mind. ADAM was close. ADAM was waiting....

* * *

Damn it.

Ritsuko was snoring lightly. Not unexpected. She always did that after exhausting herself.

Gendo extracted himself from the tangle of limbs and made his way to the bathroom. There he washed his face and tried to convince himself he wasn't going to do... _that_... again with _her_.

He would, though; probably twice tonight alone.

Gendo felt his body stir and cursed his own weakness.

Two delicate arms laced around his chest from the back. "Mmm-mm, is that for me?"

_Put on a good show, Ikari._ "If you can handle it, Doctor."

Aaaaand could she. Yikes. He'd forgotten about that move.

Afterwards their bodies cooled in the dark. Ritsuko was snoring again (just like her mother, he noted). Gendo was staring up at the ceiling, wondering what color Yui would have wanted it, when the phone on his nightstand rang.

"It's me."

The voice on the other side jabbered on. At the end of it Gendo said, "Understood. I'll be there in ten minutes." He set the phone back down and promptly turned to shake the blonde awake.

"Ugh, what is it?" Ritsuko asked, stirring.

"It's time."

"Time for what?"

Gendo put on his glasses. "The Angels. They're back."

* * *

**Authors Notes:** First off, I want to give a big thanks to everyone who's reviewed "Taking Sights" so far. Your praise and words of encouragement have really blown me away. I was a little leery as to what people would think of this story as Gendo Ikari tends to get the shit kicked out of him in fanfic. He's not a very likeable character, though I feel he is understandable (if monstrous).

Sorry for the long delay with this chapter. I was going through my outline for the whole story when I came to realize that I had a very big problem. Namely, that with Gendo trying to be less of a bastard the story really doesn't have a villain (aside from SEELE, who don't really factor into the daily lives of the characters that much... right now). The writing because a lot easier when I realized that just because Gendo isn't the out-right villain he once was doesn't mean he can't be antagonistic. Gendo is and will continue to be his own worst enemy. The trauma of his death during Third Impact won't help matters either.

From here on out the story will also shine a spotlight on the revamped life of Shinji Ikari and Company. Well, once Rei enters the apartment scene. I don't want to subject you, the reader, to unnecessary repetition before that.

Oh, and originally I was going to break this into two chapters. Of the now-defunct Chapter 4 (titled "Weaving a Story: Boozin' Stage), only the section with Gendo and Kozo getting drunk together remains. There were additional scenes where Gendo shows Kozo what he's working on in his mysterious lab, as well as Gendo giving his opinion on the "future" performance of other characters (particularly Asuka). Most of that will eventually show up in bits and pieces sprinkled throughout other chapters. Basically, I'm doing this because I felt like this whole sequence was 1) getting too long, 2) had too much info-dumping already, and 3) spoiled the reader by showing too much of Gendo's hand.

**NEXT CHAPTER: The 3rd Angel attacks... has Gendo made a fatal mistake?**


	5. The Butterfly Effect 01

**18:40 Hours TST (Tokyo Standard Time)**

**CENTRAL DOGMA, Tokyo-3**

The elderly officer was grim. "Ikari, are you confident of defeating the Angel?"

"Of course," Gendo replied. "This is why NERV exists."

"We expect much," blathered one of the uniformed fools. "We'll be monitoring the situation."

And with that the UN generals slinked away, tails between their legs.

Gendo smirked. It was finally time!

"Captain Katsuragi."

"Sir?" called the crisp voice from the Command Center's lower level.

"Prepare Unit-01 to sortie."

"Yes, sir!"

On the wall monitor, Gendo studied the familiar form of Sachiel.

_What a pathetic creature you are, Angel. All the power in the world and yet you are about to be murdered by a bunch of hairless ground-apes with pointy sticks. You exist, and we suffer. You exist, but we learn. The Fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil wasn't such a bad deal for mankind when you get down to it._

Fuyutsuki spoke quietly, not wanting his voice to drift. "Ikari, are you _absolutely_ sure about this?"

Gendo couldn't help but laugh. The unfamiliar noise spooked Fuyutsuki.

* * *

# # # presenting # # #

* * *

**TAKING SIGHTS**

**Chapter 04 – The Butterfly Effect (I)  
**

**Written by: Lavanya Six**

**(please don't sue)**

* * *

# # # another installment in a continuing series # # #

* * *

from: NERV (nerv-hq "at" tokyo3.mil)

to: General Staff (nerv-staff "at" tokyo3.mil)

date: Wed, July 15, 2015 at 08:03 AM

subject: (SAFETY ALERT) HAZARDOUS MATERIALS ON GEO-FRONT SURFACE, PRACTICE CAUTION DURING TRAVEL

To all NERV employees:

Please be aware that live fire exercises are currently being conducted on the Geo-Front surface. Shrapnel from exploded munitions presents a safety hazard to foot travelers. Until such time as the (Damage Control Department) clears zones (A-1 through B-5) of these hazardous materials NERV employees are prohibited from entering these zones without official authorization. Additionally, the Damage Control Department advises all employees to proceed with caution in grassy areas throughout the Geo-Front should shrapnel have spread beyond the previously designated damage control zones.

While we at NERV strive for an efficient and safe testing environment we are unfortunately unable to ensure that all live munitions explode properly during these exercises. As such, unexploded materials may be present on the Geo-Front surface and may not be limited to zones A-1 through B-5. While many of the munitions are harmless blanks, SOME ARE NOT! It is not possible to tell the difference between a live round and a blank unless you are a trained munitions expert. Thus, if you see any unexploded shells, do NOT approach them! CONTACT DAMAGE CONTROL IMMEDIATELY! Failure to follow advised protocols may result in injury and/or death via explosion and/or fire.

(Per Article 5, Paragraph 14, Subsection 2 of your NERV Standard Employee Contract), NERV will not be held liable in the event of any injury due to your personal negligence. This email is to be considered official legal notice to all NERV staff of the current situation on the Geo-Front surface. Failure to read this email will not be tolerated.

Please consult available (maps) to plan alternative routes if these exercises interrupt your normal travel schedule. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact the (Help Staff) by telephone or email for assistance.

Have a great day!

_The UN Special Agency NERV, est. 2010 AD_

_- God's In His Heaven, All's Right With the World_

* * *

**  
18:42 Hours TST**

**SURFACE LEVEL OF GEO-FRONT, Tokyo-3**

Shinji leaned back in the pilot's seat of Evangelion Unit-01 and sighed.

Ever since the call came in, NERV had thrown him into a compressed training regime in preparation for the inevitable battle. What was supposed to have taken take weeks he had had to do in, what? A day and a half?

(Had it only be _that_ short a time?)

Aside from sleeping in a spare bunk on base and the odd meal, they'd kept him in the Eva doing anything they could think of: live-fire pallet rifle exercises, knife fights, generating an "AT-Field". Shinji shuddered at _that_ memory. They'd turned the turrets of the battleship in the middle of Geo-Front's lake on him, forcing him to deflect the incoming shells with a force field, and only given him a ten second heads-up! He'd managed – somehow – but Misato would still do it to him randomly, claiming it helped him stay on his toes. Even after Shinji learned that the shells couldn't possibly breach Unit-01's armor plating he still went along with the drilling. Really, what could he say to Misato and his Father? "No"?

Shinji snorted.

The video intercom display on his HUD popped open. Misato Katsuragi gave him a friendly little wave, but aside from that she was all business._ Not the airhead she acts like at home._ "Shinji! We've received authorization to move out. Advance to Gate 8 for transport." Blinking red arrows appeared that directed his (or was it the Eva's?) gaze in the proper direction. "We'll prep for launch from Catapult 37."

"Yes, ma'am."

She smiled. "Misato's fine, you know."

"Y-yes, Miss Misato."

Next to the intercom display, a security feed replayed a loop of battlefield footage of the Third Angel. It looked… very alien. And now he had to fight it. And if he lost he'd…

He'd be…

"Breathe, Shinji," Misato advised. "It'll be okay. You trained for this, you're ready for this. I believe in you."

"It took an N2, Misato."

"I know. It had an AT-Field. So do you."

Shinji, despite being lost in thought, tried not to crush trees underfoot. It was a lost cause. The power cable he was dragging cut a ruinous trench behind him.

­

Once he arrived at his destination an orgy of heavy machinery buckled the Evangelion in place. Distantly, Shinji felt the pull of magnetism through Unit-01's senses. _I keep forgetting it's not just a robot. It's a bio-machine._

Misato popped up again. "Shinji, the pallet rifle will be waiting for you at the top. We fitted a spare progressive knife in your other shoulder pauldron too."

"Target in the center and pull the switch," he recited.

"Right! Just like we practiced."

Doctor Akagi stepped into the camera's view. "Shinji, don't forget about the AT-Field. If you don't neutralize it first you won't do any meaningful damage."

_But if the Angel doesn't have an AT-Field protecting it that means I don't have one protecting me either! And then that thing will be able to… to ki-_

He shivered. "Y-yes."

Misato came back on. "The Angel has reached the outer defense parameter. We need to move before it gets within attack range of the city. Are you ready?"

Shinji hesitated but then nodded.

"EVA LAUNCH!"

* * *

Sachiel the Angel had a headache.

In the grand scheme of things, having an exploding sun thrown in its face didn't count for much. That was more a moral's concern. The glory of the Fruit of Eternal Life – what the Lilium called S2 – meant that Sachiel could grow and adapt to anything that tried to hurt it.

No, Sachiel was starting to get irritated with Lilith's brood. They were everywhere, infesting the glorious face of God's creation like parasites. Worse, they kept trying to bite Sachiel. True, they were toothless, pitiful things, but on the whole the day's events were starting to rub Sachiel raw.

Plus! They! Never! Shut! Up!

Through his myriad senses the Angel had listened to their radio waves and other technological communications. The Lilium were constantly jabbering and screaming and _talking_ to each other… but never _with_ each other. It wasn't just on the battlefield (though Sachiel had no concept of 'battlefield' or other arbitrary divisions in temporal space; to him the Earth was a perfect union of land, water, and sky). They screamed into the night sky in a thousand different languages in unnatural energies only for their cries to fall back down to Earth from the ionosphere in a rain of unadulterated pain.

Three billion souls… all alone.

Annihilating the Lilium through his own union with ADAM would be a mercy to them, Sachiel decided. Afterwards the New Earth would be a memorial of quiet.

The Angel almost sighed when a new volley of missiles struck.

* * *

"Hmm. It looks… sad, somehow."

Gendo cast a glance back towards Fuyutsuki. "I doubt that."

"Do you suppose it knows? About…?"

"I have considered the notion. However, I doubt any will be forthcoming on the subject for some time." The image of a red-eyed, grey-haired boy flashed in Commander Ikari's mind. "However, when that day arrives I imagine it should make for an interesting conversation."

Below, Lt. Hyuga announced, "Final safety lock released! Evangelion Unit-01 is ready for battle!"

Fuyutsuki held his breath. "Here we go again."

* * *

On the mountainside overlooking Tokyo-3 history settled in for the start of a familiar war.

The missile barrage didn't harm the Angel. The missiles themselves weren't even designed for maximizing damage to their target. They were meant to provide a distraction. Amid the thick smokescreen, Sachiel paused to reorient itself and to deal with the Attack UAVs buzzing it.

Shinji found the pallet rifle right where his HUD prompt had indicated. Switching off its safety, he engaged Unit-01's targeting computer. Moving to the top of the mountain range, Shinji located the wall of smoke a short way down the opposite slope. His computer brought up a vector overlay, laying out an approximation of the Angel's body over the dim figure Shinji saw faintly in the smoke. With only the moon and ground fires providing illumination, the Angel's vague outline provoked a demonic presence.

Shinji moved forward, closing the distance.

Then he felt it: Sachiel's AT-Field. For some reason the sensation of it was familiar to Shinji. It… _smelled_. It smelled like _loneliness_.

He shook his head at the absurdity of the thought.

Shinji extended Unit-01's AT-Field and attempted to match the Angel's own AT-Field. After a moment his HUD flashed green.

"Target in the center and pull the switch."

He fired.

* * *

In an instant the world snapped into focus for Sachiel.

_**Lilith!**_

Not her brood or their incessant screams. _Her_. He smelled Her flesh. He smelled Her soul. He smelled Her d-

Wait.

Wait. Wait. Wait.

This was not the light of Lilith's soul he felt. It was similar, yes, but NOT Her's.

Sachiel looked up.

There, just above him, was a shade. Sachiel could feel the shade probing the edges of his soul, trying to force its way in. No, this shade wasn't Lilith. It didn't have a fraction of Her glory. It was more a Shadow of Lilith. And its soul was little more than a mockery of Her glory. But then how did i-

**Lilium. It was a Lilium wearing the flesh of its Mother. **

For the first time in his short life, the Angel felt rage.

This…_this ABOMINATION will NOT STAND!!_

Sachiel** concentrated**.

* * *

Hot pink light filled Central Dogma's main viewscreen.

Hyuga screamed over his station. "Umbilical severed! Unit-01 has sustained moderate damage to outer armor plating! Four minutes, fifty-three seconds of power remain!"

Maya's fingers dashed over her keyboard. "Pilot's life signs stable! He's OK!"

"Damn it!" Misato couldn't spot any signs of movement onscreen. Everything was still on fire. "It wasn't supposed to be able to fire crossbeams that close in!"

Ritsuko blinked. "It… it let itself get caught in the blast just to hit Unit-01?"

Aoba shouted, "Energy spike detected at the epicenter!"

As if on cue, the pink haze of the Angel's attack faded to nothingness, revealing to NERV's staff that Sachiel – now even more melty looking – was standing over the prone form of Unit-01.

Misato cried into the comm, "SHINJI! MOVE YOUR ASS!"

* * *

Shinji Ikari was scarred shitless.

It was standing over him. It was standing over him. He'd lost his gun and it was standing over him. He'd deployed his AT-Field, he'd followed orders, and now it was standing over him and it was going to kill him and he was going to die oh god he was going to d-

Sachiel grabbed Unit-01 by the head and hauled it up.

_The prog knife!_ Shinji suddenly remembered his other weapon. He willed the Eva to reach f-

**PAIN!**

Shinji grabbed his right eye. "Arrrrggggh!" The Angel was killing him! The Angel was killing him in the cockpit somehow!

**PAIN!**

"Noooooo!"

**PAIN!**

"HELP! SOMEONE HEL-"

**PAIN!**

The Third Child nearly blacked out when he felt the Angel put its arm lance through Unit-01's skull (and thus, through the miracle of synchronization, Shinji's skull). The force of the final blow carried the Evangelion backwards, the mightiest war machine of man dangling like a trout on a hunter's spear tip. When the arm lance halted at its maximum extension momentum continued to carry the purple giant forward. Unit-01 rolled along the mountainside in a broken heap of limbs until at last it came to a rest.

Then blood started to spray out its shattered head.

Shinji couldn't even bring himself to scream.

* * *

"Head damaged! Extent unknown!"

"Synchrograph has reversed! The pulses are flowing backwards!"

Dr. Akagi sprang into action. "Cut the circuits! Stop the feedback!"

"It's no use!" Maya cried. "The Eva's refusing the signal!"

Makota said, "No response from the monitoring system. Pilot status unknown!"

It was Shigeru who drove the final nail into the coffin. "Unit-01 has gone totally silent."

Above the fray, Fuyutsuki felt a swell of triumph. "We've done it now."

Captain Katsuragi swore. "Stop the operation. Protecting the pilot's life is now our top priority." She looked to Maya. "Eject the entry plug!"

"We can't!"

"What? Why?"

Gendo was smiling.

Maya pointed to her monitor. "The ejection system was damaged in the Eva's crash landing. We have to remove the plug manually!"

Ritsuko leaned over the young technician's shoulder. "Damn! We need to get him up and moving. Use the plug suit's defibrillator. Just give him the minimal voltage, though. We don't want to kill him."

"Yes, Sempai!"

A long moment passed.

"Ikari," NERV's Vice-Commander said carefully, "shouldn't it have happened by now?"

Gendo had stopped smiling.

* * *

Sachiel had no love for Lilith or Her brood, but that... shade... that Shadow of Lilith had been an insult to Her. It was dying now. He could smell it on the air.

Good.

The Angel turned back towards the all-encompassing light of ADAM.

* * *

Someone punched Shinji in the chest.

Considering the teen had just felt someone blow a hole through his skull the minor sensation of being punched in the chest proved oddly distracting. Shinji just wanted to curl up in the dark and feel himself bleed to death. Now _someone_ wouldn't leave him in peace!

"Ow!" He woke from his stupor. "Stop it! I'm up!"

A screen burst into life on his HUD. "Shinji! Are you okay?"

"Misato! I… I failed. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Shinji. Look, we need you to restart the Eva and retreat. We'll find another way somehow to defeat the A-"

"**NO!"**

Shinji shivered as he heard his father yell.

A second screen popped up on his HUD. This one was a tiny off-black monolith that read 'COMMANDER IKARI – AUDIO ONLY' in scarlet font.

"Shinji," started his Father in an icy voice, "you will restart the Eva and you will destroy the target."

"I… I can't!"

"You WILL."

"No! You're wrong! I can't do this!"

"No, Shinji, you WILL fight." Father's voice grew louder with each word. "Too much has happened! Too many people have died for you to fail me now! I won't let you throw away everything just because you're _afraid _of pain and death! You mustn't run away, Shinji! NOT this time! NOT from this fight!"

_  
("It's not ideal, I know, but life never is. We make do with what we have until we build something better. We can't run away from life because it's unpleasant. If we run away then we'll never be able to build that better life.")_

"Father…"

_  
("I won't lie to you. This will be the hardest thing you've ever done in your life. It may well be the last thing you ever do with your life. But the world needs you, Shinji. I need you.")_

"I… I…"

_  
("Unit-01 was her final project. It was her hope for Unit-01 to usher in a new age for mankind. I think she would have approved of you piloting it.")_

"…yes. I'll do it. I'll pilot it."

"Excellent," said his father. "NOW. GET. UP."

* * *

Maya followed the readout. "Absolute Borderline crossed. Synchronization rate holding steady at 40.6"

"I-I CAN'T SEE! IT CUT OUT MY RIGHT EYE! OH GOD! OH GOD, I'M BLIND!"

Ritsuko explained, "The Angel must have damaged the Eva's right optic nerve! Shinji's mind can't interpret the conflicting data!"

"Shit," Misato swore. "Cut his synch ratio down to 30."

From on high a voice proclaimed, "Belay that order."

Misato spun around. "But Commander, the pilot w-"

"The pilot needs to fight at his full capacity, Captain. He'll have to get over the pain."

Dr. Akagi got on the comm. "Shinji! LISTEN! It's not your eye! That's fine! It's the Eva's!"

"WHAT?! NO! THAT'S... THAT'S NOT POS-"

"Feel your face, damn it! It's still all there!"

"I... I... you're right!! Thank God!! Oh, thank God!"

Misato sighed. "Shinji, there's a new umbilical cable three hundred meters to your north. Hook up before your batteries drain."

"Y-Yes, Misato!"

Fuyutsuki wiped sweat from his brow. "Ikari," he whispered, "can he really do this?"

"Of course. Unless he defeats the Angel humanity has no future."

"That's not exactly a vote of confidence."

* * *

Unit-01, battered and bloody, sprinted down the mountainside with a knife in its hand and murder in its heart.

The MAGI had shown Shinji was only capable of projecting and negating an AT-Field within a very limited area, which meant that pallet rifles and other ranged weaponry were out. That left close-quarters, hand-to-hand combat. Since the Angel had already shown it was willing to catch itself in its own blasts anything other than a knife fight was a pointless waste of energy. The way Misato figured it, Shinji's only chance was to punch Sachiel in the balls and then, when it kneeled over, cut the bastard's throat.

Figuratively speaking.

_I mustn't run away._ _I mustn't run away._ _I mustn't run away._

Shinji, galloping towards the Third Angel, overlooked the irony of his chant.

* * *

Sachiel didn't know what hit him.

Well, that was a lie. He knew even as the two giants tumbled down the mountainside in a shower of rock and dirt. It was the Shadow of Lilith. Surprisingly, it had managed to scrape itself off the ground for a second round.

Sachiel concen-

_Pain! Such pain! _

It… it had hurt him! The Abomination had cut at his very being.

And it was singing! It was singing the song of the Lilium! It filled him with its _pain_ and _loneliness_ and _separateness_ and _want_. He felt disgusted. Sick.

_Please_, he tried to tell the foul shade, _stop!_

* * *

The Angel reached out to him. It was going to stab him in the head again!

"Oh no you don't!"

Shinji reacted on fearful impulse. He reached out with Unit-01's free hand and grabbed the Angel's long, segmented limb and _twisted_. With an audible scream from the monster its right arm exploded in a mash of blue blood and bone.

The simulations hadn't been like this.

"The Core!" shouted Misato. "Destroy the Core!"

Shinji stabbed. Again and again. The prog knife chipped away at the Angel's red Core. A more experienced fighter would have aimed at the same spot, widening the break. Shinji's aim was wild. He could only 'see' out one eye and adrenaline alone was keeping him from shaking uncontrollably with fear.

_Almost there… almost have it….!_

* * *

Sachiel knew he was going to die.

Die and never be with ADAM the Father again.

Die and never be Completed.

Still, Sachiel reasoned with his grand mind, if he were to die it might as well be in the service of ADAM. And what better way to honor ADAM than to kill this blasphemous Shadow of Lilith?

For the last time in his short immortal life, Sachiel concentrated.

* * *

Central Dogma was silent.

Just outside of Tokyo-3 a giant cross of white light lit the nighttime sky.

Misato forced herself to breathe. "P…pilot status?"

The light faded.

Unit-01's comm channel reactivated. Shinji's groans filled Central Dogma.

Hyuga announced, "He's alive! He's okay! The AT-Field protected him!"

An explosion of applause and cheering filled Central Dogma. Aoba and Hyuga shared smiles of relief. Doctor Akagi impulsively hugged a shocked (and blushing) Maya Ibuki. Misato Katsuragi picked up a headset and pressed it into her ear, trying to hear over the general roar.

"Shinji!"

"Mi… Misato? Did I… did I….?"

"Yes," she said, her voice becoming emotional. "You saved the day."

"Oh."

* * *

Two men stood above the pandemonium.

"Ikari?"

"Hmm?"

"What just happened?"

"What just happened is that we learned a lesson."

"A lesson? About what?"

"Change, Fuyutsuki. Change."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** A nice, fast-paced action chapter after last time's dialogue avalanche. Plus, as Gendo so succinctly pointed out, this chapter can be taken as a lesson in unintended consequences. I have no intention of novelizing the TV series with the only difference being a more developed father-son relationship. Thing that happen in "Taking Sights" may just well result in massive changes to the overall timeline, creating vastly different outcomes to predictable events. Unit-01 not going berserker against the Third Angel is just the start. I'm sure you can guess at some of the changes _that_ alone will make to NGE's story.

That doesn't mean I'm going to go overboard, like Marvel Comics does with its "What if…?" stories where, for example, Peter Parker getting a chocolate ice cream cone instead of a strawberry one somehow results in half of New York being killed by the Green Goblin. Change for the sake of change isn't always good. Some events – Angel fights or character relationships – will remain the same. Others will be shockingly different.

You'll just have to keep reading to find out.

Oh, and I'm not sure if I'll do this Angel POV thing again. It seems like it could get old fast. I can get away with it with Sachiel, though. You gotta respect the Sachiel.

Last note – promise! – Sachiel's extremely negative reaction upon spotting Unit-01 was due to Shinji being able to deploy an AT-Field in this version of the fight. In the TV Series, Shinji never got one erected before his Eva went crazy. It's mostly a dramatic touch than a plot point for "Taking Sights". Mostly.

**NEXT TIME: The Ice Girl Cometh… plus, school.**

**OMAKE!**

On Central Dogma's viewscreen the smoke and ash of the N2 explosion cleared away, revealing a melted if still very much intact Third Angel.

"Unbelievable!"

"It's a demon!"

Additional monitors charted the N2's spreading shockwave. From orbit one could see it flatten the surrounding landscape. Misato Katsuragi glanced over to her blonde scientist friend. "Man, Ritsu, I'd hate to be out there and get caught in something like that."

"Misato, only a moron would be out driving today."

"You're right. Anyone driving today would totally deserve to have their car wrecked by that shockwave."

"Even if it was a cool sports car?"

"_Especially_ if it was a cool sports car."

Down in parking space #665, Misato's Renoult Alpine A310 sneezed.


	6. Meet and Greet

**July 21, 2015 (Tuesday)**

Repair crews swarmed over Evangelion Unit-01, adding the final touches to new armor's paint job. In a small, rarely used monitoring station overlooking the Cage, two small men studied the giant standing before them.

"The Committee took your report well, all things considered."

"The old men bicker and moan but our results do the talking. So long as we defeat the Angels without unnecessary waste and keep the Instrumentality Project on track they'll leave us be… for now."

"Until they send that spy," Fuyutsuki mumbled in discontent. "I'm not going to have to be kidnapped again, am I?"

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Our new scenario must be as adaptable as the old."

"Change begets change."

"Yes."

"Ikari… why do you think _she_ stayed silent?"

When the Vice-Commander received no answer he moved on. "I've selected a candidate to chair A-Project."

Gendo nodded. "Excellent."

"And funding?"

"Not a problem. Keel knows we keep secrets from him, just like the rest of SEELE's membership does with their pet projects. He just doesn't know the degree of our treason."

Fuyutsuki gave a small laugh. "Maybe we can trade secrets. If we can crib notes from their KAROWU Dummy Plug Project they can take a peek at Arka."

"Heh. It would be worth it just to see the old man sputter hollow denials… though it would be less funny when SEELE has us murdered in our beds."

"Yes, well, everything has a downside."

"Don't fret, Fuyutsuki. Victory is the best laugh of all."

"If you can call getting put on trial in Nuremburg 'victory'."

"You know, Professor, if you prefer I can make an arrangement for you when that day comes."

"How thoughtful, Ikari. And would this arrangement be a .22 or a .45?"

Gendo smiled. "Let me make it a surprise."

"Hmph. No thanks. I'll take my chances with the tribunal."

"Too bad. A bullet would be faster."

* * *

# # # presenting # # #

* * *

**TAKING SIGHTS**

**Chapter 05 – Meet and Greet  
**

**Written by: Lavanya Six**

**(please don't sue)**

* * *

# # # another installment in a continuing series # # #

* * *

"Hey buddy, where you been?"

Touji Suzahara slumped into his desk. "Taking care of my sister."

"Your sister?" Kensuke Aida's eyes widened. "She wasn't hurt in that attack, was she?!"

"No, she had the flu yesterday," he said, rolling his eyes. "I wish she _had_ gotten hurt, though. At least then I wouldn't have to put up with her being a brat f-."

There was a gasp of shock. Both boys turned to find a familiar face standing behind them, lesson printouts in hand.

"Suzahara, that's a horrible thing to say!"

Touji, embarrassed, started to back peddle when Kensuke came to his rescue. "It's not what you think, Class Rep! He was just making a joke!"

This did not satisfy the pig-tailed girl. "A joke?! Hrmph! Well, I hope you keep your sense of humor to yourself when you're around me, Touji Suzahara!" Before the boys could say more she turned and stomped off.

"Geez, buddy. Thanks for the 'save'. I'm going to be on clean-up duty for sure."

Kensuke scowled. "Oh zip it, you big jock. Like the Class Rep needs a reason to stick us with the mop."

The tall boy leaned back, covering his face with his hands. "Arrrgh! Stupid Mari, messing things up for me again!"

"What's your deal, Touji?"

The tall boy slumped forward with a sigh. "I got grounded by my pop for not getting to the shelter on time during last week's attack. I got us lost on the way, okay?! Mari's been a real brat about it too. Not like it even mattered! That thing didn't even make it into the city!"

"Speaking of the battle," Kensuke leaned in, whispering in a conspiratorial tone, "did you hear the rumor about the transfer student?"

"Transfer student? We have a transfer student? No. What's it?"

Kensuke jabbed a thumb in the direction of the window. "They say _he's_ the pilot of that giant robot!"

"Him?" Touji checked out the boy in question and then snorted. "Right. He looks like such a… a _loser_."

"Aren't you the least bit curious?"

"Meh."

Kensuke was outraged at his dismissal. "What?! Think how awesome it would be! We should talk to him!"

"You go do that. I'm going to go catch some zees before class starts."

"B-but-!"

Touji settled down for a morning nap. "Not interested."

* * *

"I hate paperwork."

Ritsuko Akagi sipped from her _nth_ cup of coffee today. "Just be glad you weren't the one who ordered the N2 drop. If we have more fights like Wednesday's we'll probably be lobbing those things left and right soon. Then you'll really have a reason to hate paperwork"

"Ugh. Don't make jokes like that. Shinji did a good job, considering he was piloting with only two days of training." She sighed. "I'm worried, Ritsu."

"As Captain Katsuragi? Or as Misato?"

"Both." As she talked, Misato pulled over another mountain of forms marked 'URGENT'. "I think it might have been a mistake to take in Shinji."

"Oh? You were pretty enthusiastic about it before."

"I just don't know how to get along with him. He's not the friendliest person."

Ritsuko snorted. "Just like his father."

"No… it's not that he doesn't want to be friends with me, it's more like he's afraid to be friends. He j- ooo! Is that one for me?"

"Yes. Here."

"Thanks," she said, accepting the fresh cup of coffee from her friend.

"You were saying?"

"Mmm! Well, Shinji always acts so distant around me, like he's waiting for me to hit him or yell at him."

"Not surprising, considering his history. It's the classic Hedgehog's Dilemma."

"The _hog's what_?"

Ritsuko explained.

Misato nodded in understanding. "He's still just a boy. He'll learn to deal with other people's feeling in time." She grinned. "I can help him!"

This turnabout tickled the blonde. "Ah, Misato, it's so easy to restore your boundless enthusiasm for lost causes."

"Hey! Shinji's not a lost cause!"

"I'm speaking the truth. People never change after the age of fourteen or so. Not fundamentally. It's the age when you become trapped in your own ways. Shinji is probably already who he'll always be at his core, God help him. I know I became who I am today when I was at that age."

"I don't buy that."

"It's true! I mean, on a basic level, are you any different now from then?"

"Well," she coolly replied, "I talk more now."

Absentmindedly, Misato's fingers brushed her fingers across the white cross she wore. "What about Rei Ayanami? She's moving in with me too. Anything you can tell me that wasn't in her file? Every time I visit her she's asleep or drugged."

"Rei is a nice girl. She's just…."

"Yeah?"

"She's kind of like Shinji's father; not very good a-"

Misato threw her hands up in the air. "Not this again! You're seeing Gendo Ikari everywhere! What are you, in love with him?"

Captain Katsuragi expertly dodged the pot of coffee thrown at her head.

"Yikes, Ritsu! Chill! It was only a joke!"

"Yes," snarled Doctor Akagi. "A very _inappropriate_ joke."

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?"

"Fine." She glanced at the nearest clock. "Crap. I needed to be in the Second Experiment Cage five minutes ago." Ritsuko quickly downed the rest of her coffee and then dropped the cup into a waste bin. "Later, Misato."

Misato, now alone, sighed over her coffee. "I _really_ hate paperwork."

* * *

"You're Shinji Ikari, right?"

He blinked away his daydream and looked up. A freckled girl was standing next to his desk, clutching a bunch of papers to her chest. "Y-yes, I am. Who are you?"

The girl frowned just a little, but then smiled. Shinji realized it was a polite smile, a tolerant one. His uncle had shared plenty of those with him. Her tone, at least, was upbeat. "I'm Hikari Horaki, the Class Representative for 2-A." Freeing up one hand from the papers, she extended a greeting. "We talked yesterday morning? "

Dutiful, Shinji accepted her hand. "Er, I'm sorry! I've kinda had a lot on my mind." He put on a smile. "Pleased to meet you again, Class Rep."

"It's okay. Don't worry about it."

When he released her hand the two teens returned to a respectful distance.

"My contact sheet says you're living with Rei Ayanami at her new place." Unnoticed to Shinji, this news caused heads to turn. "I was hoping you could deliver these notes and assignments to her when next you see her."

"Uh, sure. But I probably won't see Rei today. I mean, we haven't even met yet."

"You haven't met?! But you're living together!"

"We just, uh, both work for my father. At NERV. Besides, she's still in the hospital."

From nowhere, a spectacled boy popped up over Shinji's shoulder. "You work for NERV, huh?"

"Gah!" Shinji pulled away from the stranger.

"Aida!" snapped the Class Rep. "Don't sneak up on people! It's not polite."

"Sorry, sorry." The boy, whose eyes seemed to gleam with hunger, never looked away from Shinji. "So do you pilot that giant robot?"

The classroom went dead silent.

Not used to being the center of attention, Shinji Ikari blurted out an answer without thinking, hoping a quick response would let him slip out of the spotlight. "Uh, yes?"

Pandemonium.

Unmindful of security clearances or state secrets, the Third Child found himself answering a flurry of questions about the Evangelion. It wasn't that he wanted to spill vital information. His classmates just expected him to answer their questions. Who was he to say 'no'?

The Class Representative took offense for both of them. "Back! Get back!" She swatted away the swarming students with Ayanami's papers but all her effort was useless. Where one lunkhead moved away another took their place. Her fallback weapon, however, was far more effective. "I have floors that need cleaning, erasers that need clapping! Who wants to volunteer? You? _YOU?!_"

The sea of people parted for sage Hikari Horaki. "I'm sorry about that," she said, "sometimes people can be so rude."

"It's all right."

She smiled and offered him the dog-eared papers. "Could you maybe take these to Ayanami in the hospital then? If you're living together it'd be good to get to know her."

"Uh, sure. I c-"

"Oh! I know! We can go together! That way you'll get to drop off her papers and I can see how she's recovering!"

"O-okay?"

"Great." The Class Rep buzzed away. "Meet me by the gate after school."

"W-w-wait! I don't know if you're allowed t…." But she was long gone.

Shinji sighed.

* * *

Doctor Akagi calmed herself as she prepared to step into the Commander's Office. Despite their intimate relationship, Ritsuko received no special treatment from Gendo Ikari when he called her to report. She accepted that, though. Keeping the secret of an illicit affair was half the thrill.

She entered.

As customary, Gendo sat seated at his desk on the far end of the office. The Vice-Commander stood at his side. Both men wore neutral expressions that gave away nothing. Ritsuko approached casually, stifling the chill she felt every time she entered the cavernous dwelling.

"Good afternoon, Commanders."

Fuyutsuki gave a perfunctory nod.

Gendo was all business. "Doctor Akagi, in your professional opinion, what would be the affect of entirely removing the behavioral modifiers from Rei's medication?"

Ritsuko blinked. "What? Why?"

"That is not your concern."

"Uh, well, Commander, I can't recommend such a course of action. Rei's unique hybrid biology means that her medications must be calibrated with extreme care. The anti-rejection drugs, the behavioral modifiers, the birth control… they're all interlocked with each other. We've specifically designed them to maximize effectiveness and to minimize side effects. Removing just one or two of them could result in any number of complications. You'd have to consult the MAGI to be sure. As for the general psychological implications, I don't believe they'll affect much difference in her overall behavior. Rei's lifetime of conditioning has been effective at re-"

"I see. Have a prescription on my desk tomorrow morning for a new drug regime for the First; one that omits the behavioral modifiers. Consider it your top priority."

"Y-yes, sir."

Fuyutsuki stepped forward and handed Akagi a datapad. "There is one more matter, Doctor. The 3rd Technical Development Division is to begin modifying the Cyclotron Prototype 20 Special Positron Cannon to handle a 16 percent increase in its output."

Ritsuko studied the pad. "Of course. It will take a month or so to ac-"

"You have ten days," Gendo declared.

"But sir, we'd have to completely re-"

"That will be all, Doctor. You're dismissed."

"…yes, sir."

* * *

"So are you enjoying school, Shinji?"

The Third Child nodded to the girl walking alongside him. It was sunny and warm, typical post-impact weather for Japan. The cicadas sang in the distance. "It's, uh, all right."

"That's good. I hope no one's giving you a hard time. I know how hard it can be starting at a new school."

"No. No problems. Everyone's left me alone." He paused. "Well, this one creepy kid keeps trying to ask me about NERV. He's a little… intense." _Really, who knocks on a bathroom stall asking questions? Holding a camcorder?_

"Oh, you mean Kensuke Aida? He's harmless, if a bit otaku-crazy about all things military. He hangs out with Touji Suzahara a lot." Shinji, not the most attentive of people, still managed to pick up the disdain the Class Rep used with that name. "That guy can be pretty insensitive, though. I'd watch out if I were you."

"I will," Shinji said. "So, uh, tell me about yourself, Miss Horaki."

Being a veteran of ten thousand meaningless conversations, Shinji had discovered that the best way to make other people stop talking to him was to get them talking about themselves. It made things much less stressful.

"Oh, you can call me Hikari, Shinji."

"Is, er, that appropriate? I mean, we just met each other."

Hikari shrugged. "It's fine with me. Besides, we're not in school now."

"Oh."

"Anyway, I have two sisters named…"

Shinji inserted polite nods and grunts of agreement at random intervals. Hikari managed to carry the conversation all the way to the elevator to the Geo-Front.

"So," she said, wrapping up her long explanation, "what about you?"

"Me?" Shinji glanced at the girl standing next to him. "Oh, uh, nothing too interesting. I've lived with my mother's uncle for the past few years. Then last week my father shows up and asks me to come to Tokyo-3."

"Why? To pilot that robot?"

"...yeah. And some other stuff."

_I hope._

Hikari did a doubletake. "Wait. You actually pilot it?!"

He blushed. "Yeah, I guess, but, uh, not very well."

"Wow. That must have been pretty scary, fighting that monster."

The clicking of the elevator's ticker filled the silence.

"I'm sorry," Hikari fretted next to him. "We don't have to talk ab-"

"No, it's okay." He cleared his throat. "It's just... nobody ever thinks of it like that. Getting in the Eva hurts. It-" Shinji stopped, embarrassed at baring his soul to some random girl from his school.

Hikari herself was at a loss for words.

He changed the subject. "So what do you know about Rei Ayanami?"

"Oh! I, uh, well, she, er," Shinji could practically hear her mental gears straining in the search for some factoid. "Well, to be honest, I don't know much about Ayanami. Nobody does. She transferred to our school last year and she pretty much keeps to herself. I don't think I've heard her speak in anything other than monosyllables."

_Well_, thought Shinji, _at least I'm not going to be living with a loudmouth. That's something, huh?_

* * *

Rei Ayanami stared at the hospital room ceiling.

It wasn't that she was bored. She wasn't. Nor was it that she couldn't move or lacked other forms of distraction. She was quite able to sit up and operate either her room's unused television or access NERVnet on her laptop. She simply had no interest in either. To those that knew her – and they were few in number – she would appear to be little more than a motionless solider awaiting orders.

That would have been a misperception.

Rei often reflected on her existence – if only to be sure she stayed on course for her destiny. Unlike most other people on Earth, Rei Ayanami knew her explicit purpose in life. It had been drilled into her since her "childhood". Both of them. Staying true to this purpose often meant that Rei had to interpret outside stimuli and how they related to her ultimate end. Even the MAGI, the world's most advanced artificial intelligence, would have been unable to factor the calculus that balanced Rei Ayanami's admittedly Spartan life.

However, the end result of Rei's dedication to Commander Ikari's twin goals for her meant that she had no real regard for her own existence or what the average person would call self-esteem.

Rei was replaceable.

Rei herself, in fact, was a replacement.

She was a replacement for Rei I, a girl strangled to death by Naoko Akagi in a fit of rage.

She was also a replacement for Yui Ikari.

And though she had no ability to realize it, Rei suffered. 'Life' was a cold, uncaring existence for her that left no room for wonder or senselessness. She was well aware that in perhaps a year or two it would all end. That was acceptable to Rei. Death would be a release.

Yet now… things were changing.

Commander Ikari had saved her during the Unit-00 Incident. He had seemed… different. Rei didn't know what to think of it but the memory of Commander Ikari's actions stirred something in her. She couldn't put a word to it. And afterwards, as she recuperated, Rei began to wonder why she was being allowed to heal. Would it not be more efficient to simply replace her?

The Commander's actions after her awakening in the hospital did nothing to allay such thoughts. In fact, for the first time in her whole life, Commander Ikari had asked Rei what _he _could do for _her_. He offered to tell Rei anything she wanted to know, even if she thought it was not pertinent to her goals as an Eva pilot or as the facilitator of Instrumentality.

Rei didn't have questions. What was the point of questions? They contributed nothing to her ultimate purpose. Yet Commander Ikari had prodded. So, lacking any other interest in her life, she asked him about himself. And from that discussion they had held branched outwards, covering his whole life. Most of it made little sense to Rei. The Commander had talked at length about social minutia and personal incidents, with a particularly strange emphasis on his involvement in violent encounters in drinking establishments during the late 1990s.

Rei Ayanami, having no concept of male bravado, did not understand.

Commander Ikari would even block out the motions of these encounters. Rei dutifully followed his reenactments, certain that she could learn something useful to her combat skills as a pilot.

Other conversations were less practical, though of interest to Rei. The Commander's limited discussions of Yui Ikari – a person of great importance that she herself knew little of – gave Rei a greater appreciation for the Commander's dedication to Instrumentality. Yet when the Commander talked of his late wife, Rei felt an odd queasiness in her stomach. Nothing the doctors or nurses had given her cured her of this feeling.

Yet even after sixteen days and the Third Angel's attack the Commander insisted that Rei continue with these odd discussions. She obliged his orders but som-

There was a knock at the door. "Er, hello?"

Rei looked over with her unbandaged eye. Two teenagers were standing in the doorway. One, a girl, the First Child recognized as her Class Representative. The other was… familiar, somehow.

"I don't think she's awake," said the boy quietly.

"Well, it can be hard to tell with her," Hikari Horaki whispered, trying (and failing) not to let Rei hear.

"I am awake," Rei said, jolting the pair.

"Uhh, hello, Ayanami!"

"Class Representative." The First Child looked behind her at the boy standing silently in the doorway. He froze under her one undamaged crimson eye.

"I hope you're feeling better," Representative Horaki said, oblivious to the actual focus of Rei's attention. "I knew you were in the hospital but I didn't know how bad you'd been hurt!"

"I will be suitably recovered to return to school by Friday."

"Oh! Well, I guess you'll need these handouts," she held out a stack of papers, then, realizing that Rei was in no condition to take them, settled for depositing them on a nightstand next to the hospital bed. All the while Rei never took her good eye off the strange boy.

_What is this feeling?_

* * *

Shinji Ikari reminded himself that he needed to breathe.

The strange girl in the hospital bed was staring at him. Maybe it was the lighting of the place, but Shinji could swear her iris was _red_. Who had an eye color like that? Albinos? Her skin was certainly pale enough. It blended nearly perfectly with her clean bed linens. What about her hair? What was it, _blue_? That couldn't be natural. She had to be dyeing it that color.

But what really stole his attention was a single overriding thought: _where have I seen her before?_

"-inji Ikari." Hikari turned to him with a smile.

Had he zoned out while she introduced him? Ugh. Good job, Shinji. "Hello," he said weakly, finding his throat dry.

The strange girl said nothing.

Hikari glared at him. Panicked, he quickly stepped forward. Getting a better look at the Rei Ayanami confirmed his earlier observations. "I-I'm Shinji Ikari." He gave a half-hearted wave.

The girl spoke in an emotionless monotone that sent a shiver down his spine. "You are the Third Child?"

"Yes," he nodded.

"I have been informed that we are to be living together under the supervision of Captain Katsuragi."

"Er, yes."

"I will be released to her custody on Thursday."

"O-okay?"

There was a long, awkward pause. Sweating under Rei's cycloptic stare, Shinji glanced at Hikari for some support. The Class Rep was smiling politely but offered little else. Shinji desperately racked his brain for some tidbit to put the conversation back on track. He went with the first thing that came to mind.

"Boy, the Evas sure are tall, huh?"

_What?! That's the best you can think of?! Ugggh!_

"Yes," said Rei flatly.

"I think you enough excitement for one day, Ayanami. We should go and let you rest." Hikari touched Shinji's shoulder, prompting him to turn. He barely felt her hand, however, so caught up was he in Rei's unblinking eye.

In the hallway Shinji said, "Wow."

"I know. Can you believe it? I've never seen her that talkative!"

"...ah."

* * *

Alone again, Rei Ayanami found her mind churning over what had just happened. There had been something different with the Third Child. Perhaps it was his relation to the Commander? And why had the Commander been so explicit in how she should conduct herself around his son after she and he were to be living together? Why would he think that she would behave inappropriately around him? It was all very curious.

She spoke to herself. "Shinji... Ikari."

The ceiling was less interesting now.

* * *

Gendo wiped the dust from his glasses with his right sleeve. "What would you have done in my place, Professor? If you'd seen what I'd seen and had your own second chance?"

"Well," mulled Kozo, "I'd have started by having you killed. Then I would have cut a deal with SEELE to take control of NERV."

The Commander blinked. "…I see."

"Not the answer you were expecting, Gendo?"

"Well, yes it was, actually, I just didn't think you'd say it so off the cuff." He smirked. "I beginning to suspect I'm a bad influence on you, Professor Fuyutsuki."

"I don't mind. At least this old man is learning from the best."

"Why thank you." He put his glasses back on. "Doctor Akagi tells me the positron rifle will be upgraded in time for the 4th Angel's attack."

"Thank heavens." The elder man took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "But, I wonder, will we be able to pull off _this _plan? The last battle didn't go as we wished. And it's too early to openly strike against SEELE if we f-"

"Don't worry. I have a contingency in mind." Gendo grimaced slightly. "Though I would prefer to avoid the mass civilian causalities involved – it would draw the wrong sort of attention towards NERV at this juncture."

Fuyutsuki paled. "Best to start preparing the boy then."

"I've made arrangements." His stomach rumbled loudly. "Dinner?"

"I'm game for some sushi."

"Excellent."

* * *

Meanwhile, as Hikari and Shinji waited for an elevator, they were in for a surprise when the doors opened to reveal...

"Misato! Ritsuko!"

"Shinji!"

The Captain glanced to Shinji's left and grinned at what she found. "Who's your lady friend, Shinji?"

He blushed. "This is Hikari. Er, Hikari Horaki. She's my Class Representative."

"Little far from the classroom, huh?"

"Er, well…"

"Aren't you going to be a gentleman and introduce us?"

"Oh!" He pivoted. "Hikari this is Cap-"

"Captain Misato Katsuragi, head of the Department of Operations." The Class Rep bowed before both women in the elevator. "Ritsuko Akagi, head of the Science Division. It is an honor to meet you both."

Ritsuko glanced sideways at her long-time friend. "My," she said, her tone amused, "what a polite and well-informed young lady Shinji has found. She could be a healthy counterbalance to you, Captain."

Misato's reply shocked the pig-tailed teen. "Stuff it, Ritsu!" She looked back towards Shinji. "Visiting Rei Ayanami, huh?"

He nodded.

"She's quiet, huh?"

"Y-yes."

Misato smiled. "Well, I'm taking off for the day. If you'd like we can find a nice ramen stand and grab some dinner." She nodded towards the teen girl. "You're welcome to join us."

"Thank you, Captain Katsuragi, but I need to head home. I'm late as it is and I need to start making dinner for my two sisters and my father."

"Oh, well, that's too b-"

The blonde scientist snapped her fingers. "_Horaki!_ You wouldn't happen to be Doctor Takumi Horaki's daughter, would you? The head of the 3rd Technical Development Division?"

Hikari bowed again. "Yes, ma'am."

"Well, I wouldn't worry about making dinner for your father tonight. In fact, I doubt you'll be seeing him soon. His department is going to be pulling all-nighters for the next week or so to make their deadline."

Misato elaborated. "Orders from the top, Shinji. Your father's cracking the whip." She made a mock-thrashing gesture. "_Kwha-CHhh!! Kwha-CHhh!!_"

"Your father?" Hikari looked over at Shinji with realization dawning on her face. "Wait… _that _Ikari? Your father is COMMANDER IKARI?! OF NERV?"

"Er… yeah." He smiled sickly. "Small world, huh?"

Misato swooped in to his rescue. "I know! I'll take you both out for dinner. It can be a little date."

Both teens blushed.

"Misato I c-"

"My sisters will b-"

"-really, it's fine if w-"

"-hank you but I must decline."

"No, no. I insist!" The Captain smiled. "Let's stop by your place and pick up your sisters, Miss Horaki. We can use my car."

Shinji frowned. "You have a car?"

"Yes! It's an awesome one too. I just bought it."

The two teen glanced at one another. "Okay, fine by me," they said in unison before blushing likewise.

The sly grin on Ritsuko's face made Shinji uneasy. "You've never driven with Misato before, have you?"

"Er, no. Why?"

"Quiet," snapped Misato, narrowing her eyes at the blonde. "Remember, I know where your cats sleep."

"Yes, yes." Ritsuko walked away, waving off her friend's bogus threat. "If you'll excuse me, I need to go give Maya and Aoba more ulcers."

The trio, left alone with each other at the foot of the elevator, stared at one another. The conversation had slipped into a lull and no one was quite sure how to break out of it. Finally Hikari, snapping into Class Representative mode, ended the standoff with a softball question, "I should call ahead and tell my sisters we're picking them up, Miss Katsuragi. Where should I say we're going?"

"Well, if it's the five of us, ramen may be a little downscale. Ooo! We should try this place Ritsuko told me about. The food's supposed to be fantastic."

Shinji asked, "What do they serve, Miss Misato?"

"Sushi."

* * *

The two Commanders dug into their meals.

"I must say, Ikari, you have excellent taste in sushi."

"Surprised at the delicate palate of the former street urchin?"

"Yes. Yes I am." Kozo rolled his eyes. "Actually, I'm surprised you didn't just have them bring you out chicken and rice. It's all I ever see you eat."

"I prefer some moments of stability in my day. When you have to explain to Keel why NERV bungled the first battle with the 7th Angel you'll understand."

"Wait, you honestly aren't going to try and change th-"

Fuyutsuki froze.

"What is it?" Gendo set down his chopsticks and glanced over his shoulder. "What?"

"Ikari, isn't that…

* * *

"Wow, Miss Misato!" Little Nozomi Horaki spun around. "This place is COOL!"

Hikari placed a hand on her sister's shoulder. "Please try to behave. We're in public."

"Aww!"

Kodama Horaki rubbed her temples. "Cut it out, squirt. I'm having enough trouble trying to regain my sense of balance without watching your spinning."

"Hey!" Misato whipped off her sunglasses. "I'm paying for dinner. The least you can do is not badmouth my driving."

"I think you're an awesome driver, Miss Misato!"

"Why thank you, Nozomi!"

"So many ninety degree pivots," whispered a pale Shinji.

Hikari shivered. "Y-yes, but we're here now."

"You mean this shack?" Kodama glanced around the cramped, garishly decorated restaurant. "Man, this place is so back alley I wouldn't be surprised if they sold 2-for-1 coat hanger abortions."

"_Kodama!_" admonished Hikari.

"What's an 'abortion', Miss Misato?"

"Uh, I think I'll let your sisters explain that one."

* * *

…Hinako Kotobuyki, the famous idol singer?"

Gendo graced the Vice-Commander with a frown. "Who?"

"What?!" Fuyutsuki shook his head sadly. "Honestly! I'm sixty years old and even _I_ know who Hinako Kotobuyki is!"

"Hmm. It's possible. This is the best, most exclusive sushi restaurant in all of Japan. A high-caliber clientele is to be expected."

The Vice-Commander murmured, trying not to be overheard, "Do… do you think she'd give me her autograph?"

Gendo Ikari sighed.

* * *

# # END

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Wow. This one took a lot longer than I thought it would. Why? Rei Ayanami. Writing any scene with her just stopped the story. She just doesn't have any real "emotional" development or relationships to latch onto at this point in the timeline. The problem was also partially due to me having trouble keeping this version of Rei separate from one in a different, unrelated Eva fanfic I'm writing. I hope I didn't go overboard with her introspection. Writing Rei is hard.

There's a lot more humor leaking into this story than I thought. I suppose it's because Gendo is such a straight man. Like Batman, he can make anything funny.

Hinako Kotobuyki is a very obtuse homage to one of the greatest Eva fanfics ever, _Children of an Elder God_. Google it if you've never read it.

Oh, and in my member profile there's a link to my website. It hosts a reformatted version of "Taking Sights" (with hyphens! Ooo! Thanks a heap, ffnet). I also use it to archive some hard-to-find late 90s and early 2000s Evangelion fanfiction like _HERZ_.

**Next Chapter: Heartbreaker!**


	7. Callings

"Play it again."

"I think-"

_"Play it again!"_

"Christ! Fine!"

(Ext. Camera R7713: Unit-01 released from locking clamps. Haltingly, the Eva advances eastwards up the mountain slope away from view.

(Field Camera I524: Unit-01 approaches camera position. Stabilizers prevent much jostling of the image from accompanying tremors. Unit-01 raises its pallet rifle, takes aim, and fires at the off-screen enemy target.)

"Idiot. He didn't check to see if he'd neutralized the AT-Field waveform completely."

(Field Camera I525: The Third Angel emits a flash in its center-of-mass.)

(Field Camera I524: FEED LOST)

(Field Camera I525: FEED LOST)

(Internal Eva Recorder: Angel approaches Unit-01. Angel grabs Unit-01. Angel beings secondary attack using localized energy lance.)

(Internal Eva Recorder: FEED LOST)

"God, what was he thinking? He didn't go for his prog knife! He didn't even _move_!"

(Internal Eva Recorder: FEED RESTORED)

(Internal Eva Recorder: Resynchronization. Screaming.)

The girl snorted in disgust. "What a fucking wuss."

"_Hey_! Language, young lady!"

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry."

(Internal Eva Recorder: New umbilical cord attached. Location of Angel ascertained. Rapid approach. Tackle. Close-quarters melee battle. Angel attempts secondary attack with energy lance. Unit-01 destroys target's right arm.)

The girl nodded in approval.

(Internal Eva Recorder: The Angel screeched, its form bubbling, flowing up and around Unit-01's head. Detonation. Static from the EM pulse. Feed restored. No sign of Angel.)

The video froze on the final image, a still taken of Unit-01 standing in the center of a scorched crater. The frame was overlaid were the words "ENEMY TARGET DESTROYED - MISSION END".

"Jesus," she moaned. "How is he still alive? That thing beat the hell out of him."

"He got back up, Asuka."

"_Duh_. Obviously, Kaji, otherwise we wouldn't be here."

The Second Child's guardian 'hmmmmm'd. "Jealousy isn't very becoming a lady."

"Me, _jealous_ of that _loser_? Don't make me laugh." She tapped a carefully manicured fingernail on the computer screen. "I should have been there. I should have been piloting that thing. I wouldn't have made all those mistakes. What were they thinking, giving it to some _boy_ with barely two days in an entry plug?!"

"If they thought you could have done it they would've put you on a scramjet to Tokyo-3, but, apparently, Unit-01 has _quite_ the reputation at the home office for being choosy of its pilots."

"Hmph. Well, at least they're finally working like they should on my Unit-02. It'll be combat ready in four weeks. Then I finally get to sail into battle! Though if you ask me they should splurge a little bit more for an air transport."

"I'll be sure to forward your suggestion to Commander Ikari. Why, I bet he'll be simply _delighted_ to make that happen."

"Are you trying to be funny, Kaji? Because it's not cute."

"You need to lighten up, Asuka. The war will still be waiting for you when we get there."

"With the world in the hands of that moron?" She seethed. "Play it again."

With a sigh Kaji complied.

* * *

# # # presenting # # #

* * *

**TAKING SIGHTS**

**Chapter 06 Callings**

**Written by: Lavanya Six**

**(please dont sue)**

* * *

# # # another installment in a continuing series # # #

* * *

"Welcome home."

Rei paused, nodded, then stepped inside.

Misato led the silent girl on, gesturing around the apartment. "Living room. Kitchen. Bathroom's down there. My bedroom's at the end. Shinji's is over here." She slid open the door for Rei. "I put your medication on the nightstand."

The girl walked into the room without a backwards glance. She looked around, studying the sparse furnishings. Aside from the bed and desk, the only real possession Rei had in the room was a mini-fridge for her medication and a set of measuring glasses and beakers atop it. The room itself was spotless thanks to Shinji. "This is very satisfactory, Captain Katsuragi."

"Please, call me Misato. We're not on-duty."

"I see." With a small sigh that escaped Misato's ear Rei parked herself on her new bed and laid down for a nap. She was careful not to put any weight on her bandaged arm.

The Captain fumbled for words. "Um, what should I do with this?" She held up the cardboard box in her hands. It held Rei's worldly possessions; which amounted to a set of three carefully folded school uniforms, some plain underwear, and a case for glasses. All told it was a very light box. Misato found she could carry it with one hand.

"You may place it on the desk, Capt... Misato."

"Sure." She set the box down. "You just rest for now, okay?"

The girl nodded minutely.

Misato slid the door shut. Waiting outside for her was her shortest roommate. "Beer?"

"Wrak!" flapped the happy penguin.

"Awesome."

* * *

Two hours earlier, just before she retrieved the First Child from NERV's hospital, Misato was being briefed on her new charge.

Ritsuko lit up a fresh cigarette. "The most important thing to remember is that Rei has certain health problems stemming from a rare genetic condition."

"I kinda figured it had to be something like that. Blue hair and red eyes aren't exactly normal."

"Yes, well," she took a drag, "it's perfectly treatable. However, we're still working out the right balance for her medication. In the past we've had instances where they've interfered with her ability to synchronize, among other unpleasant side effects. We've been able to reduce these side effects over time." Ritsuko locked eyes with her. "It is vitally important that you make sure she takes her meds, Misato. Rei will die if she stops taking them."

"Okay. But from what I've seen Rei doesn't seem the kind to shirk responsibility."

Ritsuko sighed. "She's a teenage girl, Misato. That should be reason enough." She handed her a slip of paper. "Here's a phone number you can call if Rei demonstrates any unusual behavior. Any time, day or night, you'll be able to reach me just don't call asking me to make a beer run, okay?"

She accepted the paper with a reserved expression. "Why do I need to be on the lookout for 'unusual behavior'? Is there something I don't know?"

"We're readjusting her medication right now. We don't expect any significant changes but you never know. Even with all we know about it the human body can still throw science for a loop."

"That makes sense." Misato pocketed the slip. "Well, time to take her home."

* * *

"I'm home!"

"Welcome home," called the muffled voice from the kitchen.

Shinji slipped off his shoes and walked into the kitchen. Misato and Pen-Pen had already started the evening strong. The bird was snoozing under the table amidst a scattering of beer cans. Misato was nursing her latest beverage, though Shinji noted she wasn't much more than mildly buzzed. _Bet her liver's pate, or soon will be. _"Hi, Misato." He glanced towards the bedrooms. "Is Rei home?"

"She's sleeping."

"Oh."

"She didn't do much more than walk in. I think she's still pretty zonked out from her injuries and all the drugs she's on."

Shinji stood in the middle of the kitchen, unsure of what to do. Misato noticed his predicament. "Planning on swooping in to give Sleeping Beauty a kiss?"

His guardian got the blush she wanted. "N-no! Of course not!" He hurried off, out of the kitchen. "I'm going to wash up."

"Well," randomly mused Misato into her beer, "I hope she's having a nice dream."

* * *

Rei Ayanami did not dream.

In fact, due to a startling oversight in her education, the very concept of dreaming was a complete unknown to her. As she slept her mind simply blanked out and the biological mechanisms of sleep carried on replenishing brain chemicals and snipping unnecessary clutter of the neural pathways.

Yet in this period of nothingness the soul of Rei Ayanami was not entirely quiet. In a place beyond the physical world her soul quivered as _something_ teethed on it from inside. It was a darkness that no one, not even Rei Ayanami, knew existed there. In her waking life the darkness was quiet, lost in the blind spot of consciousness. But it was always there. It was real. It was patient.

The darkness looked outside itself and smiled.

* * *

Deep underground in NERV, at her work station in Central Dogma, Maya Ibuki turned away from Aoba's recollection of his touring days when the MAGI issued a small 'beep'.

"What is it?" asked the long-haired man.

"Hmm? Oh! It's nothing important. Just some residual nerve static in Unit-00. Sempai said it was to be expected."

"Well, as long as the Eva doesn't go crashing through any walls."

Maya gave her full attention back to her friend. "So you were saying about the girl with the two umbrellas?"

"Total nutjob, but what a babe! See, she snuck backstage after..."

* * *

Rei awoke. Blinking away sleep from her one good eye, she sat up, looked around, and gave the slightest of frowns. _Where am I?_

Then it came back to her. She wasn't in the hospital or in her (former) apartment; rather this place was her new living quarters Captain Katsuragi's residence. The Commander had ordered her here for ill-defined reasons. She made a note to herself to enquire further on the matter.

Rei's stomach rumbled. The clock on her dresser indicated it was the dinner hour. Slowly, she stood up, careful as she balanced herself on her still-healing legs. _The Captain likely has suitable food stuffs in her cupboard. _She walked over to her bedroom's door, opened it, and was assaulted by a wave of aromas: rice, vegetables, spices, and (she noted with disdain) beef.

Curious, Rei limped into the kitchen. Captain Katsuragi was not present. Instead, jostling pots and pans over the stove, was Pilot Ikari. Involved in his task, the Third Child did not notice Rei's approach. For several minutes she watched him at work, humming happily as he prepared a meal for himself. It was only when he walked over to the refrigerator for some unknown item did he notice her.

"A-Ayanami!" he said in surprise. "Sorry, I didn't see you there."

Rei explained, "I wanted to make some food for dinner. I see you are using the kitchen at the moment. I will return afterwards." She turned to leave.

"Wait! I'm making dinner for everyone."

If the Third saw her slight frown he gave no indication. "You prepare dinner for Captain Katsuragi as well?"

He nodded. "Yes. For her and you and me." He gestured to the cooking food. "See? There's enough for everyone."

"I I do not eat meat."

"I know. Ritsuko told me. I'm cooking the meat separate, see? That way you can have as much as you want of the rest." He pointed to place settings at the kitchen table. There were three.

Not for the first time in her life, Rei Ayanami was at a loss for words.

Ikari smiled weakly and went back to his work. A quiver in her left leg made Rei decide to take a seat at the table. There was an unsure moment when she debated which of the places at the table to sit at. Rei resolved the dilemma by taking the fourth seat at the table. There was no place setting there and she was unlikely to disrupt the order of things by resting there.

Several more minutes passed in silence as Rei watched Ikari busy himself over the stove. He attempted to fill the comfortable silence with conversation.

"So, uh, how long have you been at NERV?"

"All my life," she answered immediately.

The Third Child returned to his cooking. Rei just watched. It was clear that the boy was no longer relaxed at his task. _Do I make him feel uneasy?_ It was a common enough response in people who interacted with her.

"Rei?"

She said nothing. Ikari turned to check if she was paying attention. "Um, I was wondering why do you pilot Eva?"

"It is my bond."

"Your bond? With my father?"

"It is a bond with all people."

Ikari averted his eyes. "You're strong, Ayanami."

"I have nothing else."

"You have nothing else?"

Rei shifted in her seat. Her left leg was starting to throb. "It is my purpose in life."

An expression passed over Ikari's face. _Sadness?_ He turned back to the stove without another word. Rei waited for another question but the Third Child had no more. She continued to watch him at work.

"Ikari, why do you pilot?"

"Um, I do it because of, well, my mother, I guess. Unit-01 was her creation. I guess I pilot because of that."

"Oh," said Rei. "So you do not pilot the Eva in order to gain acceptance from your Father?"

The Third Child froze up. Rei waited for him to reply but he never did, instead he just stood there watching the pots and pans spread out before him. He did not acknowledge her statement in any other way.

When it came time, dinner was a sedate affair. The rest of the evening past in much the same way.

* * *

Stretching, Shinji Ikari rose from his futon. He wasn't one to wake up early, but if he slept in no one would make breakfast (an _edible_ breakfast, he corrected himself) and Misato would use up all the warm water. So he made sure to be the first one up. At least then he could take a hot shower.

He slid open the bathroom door and came nose-to-nose with a nude Rei Ayanami, her dressings her only clothing. In one of her hands was a tower, in the other a sponge. Shinji, his brain fried, just stood there staring dumbly.

"Pilot Ikari," said Rei flatly, "I cannot exit if you continue to block the doorway."

Several seconds later the Third Child rebooted. "W-what?" His eyes snapped up to her expressionless face. "Oh!" He hustled to the side, averting his gaze, and allowed Rei to leave.

"Sorry! I-I'm, uh, I didn't mean to, er"

The First Child said nothing.

His shower was cold that morning.

* * *

Shinji wiped away a stream of sweat from his forehead. Standing over a hot stove wasn't normally so bad, but the apartment's A/C was on the fritz and to make matters worse Tokyo-3 was in the middle of a Heat Emergency. Still, _someone_ had to make the meals around here.

Besides, concentrating on boiling rice meant that he didn't have to look at Misato's outfit. She was wearing little more than short-shorts and a loose-fitting t-shirt over a sports bra. Despite the concession of the t-shirt covering her mid-section (an odd instance of modesty) the rest of her clothes left little to the imagination; especially since she too was soaked in sweat, causing unfortunate clingage.

"Man, Rei," said his guardian, "aren't you hot in that uniform?"

Ayanami at least was unflinching in the face of the sweltering heat. She was dressed in her ever-present school uniform. Misato had planned on taking her shopping but the heat wave made the _thought_ of moving hard. On top of that she was still wrapped up in heavy bandages, which must have brutal in the heat.

"I am fine, Captain Katsuragi."

"You're sweating like a pig!"

It was true, Shinji thought as he laid out the trio's plates. Rei looked like she had been cooking over a hot stove too. Her only concession to the heat was her lack of the school jumper. But not an inch of her exposed smooth alabaster skin (dangerous line of thought, Shinji!). He looked away, focusing on the food in front of him and not on either of his companions.

"Pigs do not sweat, Captain. They use mud to transfer he-"

"Never mind that," said Misato, "just put on some cooler clothes before you give yourself heat stroke."

Cursing himself, Shinji found himself looking up at his female companions. Trying to be subtle about it he reached for his drink.

"I do not have other clothes."

"Oh right." Misato knocked back a beer and then wiped a bit of foam from her delicate upper lip. "Well then, just take off your shirt."

Shinji choked on his ice water.

"I do not believe the Commander would find that proper."

"It's too hot to be proper, Rei. Besides, we're all friends here, right? And it's not like you'd be flaunting more at Shinji than he sees of you in your plug suit." She gave him a light punch on the shoulder. "Just don't stare too much, 'kay? "

"I-I-I would never!"

Rei unbuttoned her shirt with her good hand, exposing a good deal of sweaty skin to the air. Shrugging off the damp piece of cloth, the First Child looked vaguely relieved in her plain white bra. "Yes, Captain, this is much more comfortable."

"See? I told you!"

_Damn it all_, Shinji thought to himself,_ why did I have to wear the mesh-shorts today of all days?!_

* * *

After dinner, Rei Ayanami paused for a moment to enjoy the burst of cool air as she retrieved her medication from her room's mini-fridge. Then, with motions that had long ago lost the need for conscious action, she laid out over a dozen pills of assorted shapes and colors.

Rei gave no thought to her medication. It was simply a fact of life to her.

Literally so.

Ritsuko Akagi hadn't lied to Misato when she had said that if Rei stopped taking her medication she would die. Though that really wouldn't be much of problem even if it did happen one trip to the Reiaquarium and Doctor Akagi could pull a new Rei out of the tank. For someone who desired a return to nothingness, the First Child understood that avoiding her medication would be no release from the burden of existence. So she took her pills.

However, though she had a security clearance rating that was surpassed only by the Commander and Vice-Commander, Rei Ayanami did not actually know what was in her pills. She assumed she knew a naivety born of a fusion of her trust in the Commander and lack of regard for her own well-being.

The pills Rei took previously served three functions. Broadly, there were anti-rejection drugs, behavioral modifiers, and birth control. Rei believed that the medication she took daily only dealt with the first category.

The behavioral modifiers, removed from her current prescription at the insistence of Commander Ikari, were mainly a legacy from her 'childhood'. They had dulled her emotional reactions as a little girl, preventing her from experiencing the outbursts common to children. These drugs were not of malicious intent; rather they were given to Rei out of a sense of precaution by Gendo Ikari and Kozo Fuyutsuki. While she was only partially Angel, Rei Ayanami could still project an AT-Field if she had sufficient motivation. Allowing a little girl with the power of a god to throw a temper tantrum was not something the two Commanders were willing to risk. The fact that these behavioral modifiers made Rei more pliable to control was simply a cushy side-benefit to Gendo Ikari.

The anti-rejection drugs were her only absolute necessity. Rei, despite being a wonder of genetic engineering, was still a composite of two foreign (if closely related) genomes. On a cellular level the human and the Angel halves of her were constantly on the verge of a terrible, genocidal war with each other. Drugs could put a hold on this fight, preventing Rei's body from consuming itself. Without them she couldn't go more than 72 hours before she would lapse into a coma and die.

The birth control was another matter.

Rei thought herself sterile, and she was, though not as she imagined. The First Child believed that her womb was barren, a fiction that the Commanders and Doctor Akagi did nothing to correct. The truth of her sterility was more complex. Rei Ayanami was the near-perfect genetic hybrid of _homo__ sapiens_ and _homo angelic lilith_; despite being a hybrid of two distinct species she was still fertile.

To the more spiritually minded this made a certain sense. Considering Rei's angelic progenitor Lilith, the mother of all things it would bizarre if Rei Ayanami was anything _but_ fertile. Due to this quirk of her non-human ancestry Rei never had a monthly cycle because she was always ready to conceive. The First considered herself a woman that did not bleed, which was technically correct. But, as previously stated, while Rei was fertile she was also functionally sterile.

The slight genetic difference between Rei's hybrid genetics and the common Homo sapiens's was too vast a gulf to bridge by nature (or love) alone. The MAGI calculated that even if a viable nephilim/human conception were to occur the fetus would miscarry before the fifth week. The emotional and psychological fallout from such as event would be catastrophic to Rei's piloting ability and as an obedient tool. So, to protect Rei from an unforeseen miscarriage on the off-chance she mated with a human, NERV suppressed her fertility with an array of specially tailored drugs.

However, Rei being Rei, she did not bother reflecting on the pills in her hand. Instead she put them in her mouth and took a sip of water to ease their travel down her throat.

Satisfied that her task was completed, Rei Ayanami turned off the lights and went to bed. Her sleep was dreamless and in it she was not alone.

* * *

A little past one o'clock in the morning, Shinji Ikari familiarized himself with his bedroom's ceiling just as he seemed to be doing every night lately. He did so with his hands placed firmly above the bedcovers.

* * *

Hikari Horaki studied the boy before her. He hadn't even budged since the lunch bell had rung. He had just sat there, staring off into the distance. "Shinji? Are you okay?"

The Third Child blinked as his friend talked to him. "Um, yeah," he said, his voice distant. When he met her concerned gaze she was surprised at the wariness in his blue eyes. "I've just haven't been sleeping much lately."

"Oh my! You're not sick, are you?"

Hikari was a little weirded out when Shinji took a good half minute to answer that question. "No," he said at last. "I'm being good."

"Right." She smiled, her eyes alight with concern. "Well, if you don't feel well just let me know and I can get you to the nurse, okay? I'll smooth things over here with Sensei."

"Thank you," he said, turning back to stare off into the distance.

"You know," later mused Hideko, Hikari's second, nibbling on a pencil eraser, "he must not have a lot of time for school stuff with piloting that robot. He probably has to spend, like, hours practicing being a monster fighter."

Hikari nodded approvingly. "He must study all night just to keep up! No wonder he's so tired!"

"I know! What a dedicated student!"

* * *

Misato Katsuragi dropped in unannounced at her friend's office. Doctor Akagi was lost in her work, hunched over a monitor showing a bizarre layout of circles and squiggly lines.

"Ritsuko?"

The blonde didn't look away from the computer terminal. "What is it, Misato?"

The raven-haired woman took a seat behind her friend. "What exactly happened to Rei Ayanami?"

The doctor still didn't look at her. "What do you mean?"

"The way she acts. All this past week. she never smiles or frowns or, well, anything. She didn't ever complain during that heat wave. Who doesn't bitch about the weather once in a while?! And that monotone she speaks in!"

"There's nothing wrong with her, Misato." Ritsuko sighed and spun around in her creaky office chair. "She's not emotionless; she's just not very good at living."

"Um, Ritsu?"

"Yes?"

"What the heck does that even mean, 'not very good at living'? I suck at being an adult, I can't keep my checkbook balanced to save my life, but I still show emotion. You don't end like Rei Ayanami unless you've had _some_ damage." Misato sipped from the coffee cup in her hand. "So what happened to her?"

Ritsuko stared at her for several seconds. Just when the vibe was starting to make Misato nervous it was pre-empted. "I don't know," she said at last. "Honestly, Rei's acted that way since I met her in 2010?" Ritsuko squinted and mumbled to the side, "God, has it been five years already?"

"And you don't know anything about the first nine years of her life?"

"Her background was erased by the Marduk Institute for safety reasons." Ritsuko lit up a cigarette. "You remember how paranoid GEHIRN was about security precautions back then. Nobody wanted to take the slightest risk with the first viable piloting candidates. Why do you think we splurged for all those private tutors for the Second?"

It was true enough. Misato recalled her days in Germany when it was a bureaucratic nightmare just to get clearance to take Asuka off-base to an aquarium for her ninth birthday. "Yeah, I remember. But still, shouldn't Rei be seeing a psych or something?"

"_Lots_ of people should be seeing shrinks than actually do, Misato," Doctor Akagi replied with wry smile. When she saw her friend glower with impatience she became more serious. "You'd have to ask the Commander or Vice-Commander."

"Yeah," Misato snorted, "I'll get right on that."

Ritsuko shrugged. "Maybe she has seen a shrink. Maybe what she is now is the best they could put back together." She puffed on her cigarette. "God knows there are enough orphans from the Second Impact," said Ritsuko carefully, gauging the Captain's reaction. When there was no pushback she went on, "Everybody's heard horror stories about what happened at some of those relocation centers in '01 and '02."

Misato had heard plenty she wanted to forget about them from Kaji when he'd gotten drunk and started babbling about his youth and he'd been in one of the saner military districts. "Yeah."

"I can only imagine what happened to make Rei who she is now. Some girl with health problems, blue hair, and red eyes in an overcrowded refugee orphanage? Especially with all manner of religious crazies and end-of-the-world nuts that were around back then? It's a miracle she's wasn't burned at the stake."

"So you think she doesn't smile because no one smiled at her when she was a little girl? That's horrible."

"It's just a theory," said Ritsuko, polishing up the last bits of her lie. "However, I've read enough about child abuse cases ones where kids grow up locked in closets and can barely communicate years after they're freed to suspect that whatever happened to Rei Ayanami wasn't pleasant."

"God," she swore, feeling nauseous.

"Misato?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't be a hero."

"Huh?"

Ritsuko rolled her eyes. "Misato," she sighed, "you can't save everyone. Don't try to fix Rei. NERV needs her as she is functional. We only have three pilots for all the Evangelions we've built or have under construction."

"I know that," said Misato defensively. "I can maintain a professional distance from Shinji and Rei, but I also don't want them cracking from stress. Shinji is treading water as it is here. I'm still not sure we'll be able to keep him. We can't afford to have Rei break too."

Ritsuko frowned, confused. "I thought the Commander had taken him back under his wing."

"I don't think they've spent more than five minutes in the same room since the Third Angel." Misato remembered the after-action meeting. The two Ikaris hadn't even made eye contact with each other. "I think they're avoiding their feelings."

"Damn hedgehogs," sighed Ritsuko, shaking her head. "They can't ever say what they want to say."

* * *

Later that afternoon found the Third Child alone in the apartment. Misato was working late and Ayanami was at the hospital for some tests.

Shinji was sitting rigidly at his desk with his hands firmly fixed on his textbook when the phone began to ring. Sighing, he rose from his seat and hobbled his way to the kitchen.

"Hello?"

"Hel-lo," started the artificial voice.

"Huh?"

The computerized operator continued undeterred with the proper names filled in by a strange female's voice, "You, _(Misato Katsuragi)_, have-a-col-lect-call-from-Ber-lin, Ger-man-y-from _(Die Abholung verdammt Telefon!)_. Will-you-ac-cept-the-char-ges?"

_Berlin__? Isn't there a NERV base there? _"Uh, yeah."

"Please, state-your-ans-wer-clear-ly."

"YES. Yes."

"One-mo-ment-please."

The line clicked, sputtered, and then a woman's voice came on. "Misato? _Dies ist der richtige Telefonnummer, ja_?"

Shinji blinked. "Uh, hello?"

"_Wer__ spricht?_" There was a pause. "Who is this?"

Her Japanese had an unusual lilt to it; one Shinji couldn't immediately put his finger on. After a second he sighed at his own stupidity. _She's German_, he thought, _it's a German accent._ "This is the Katsuragi Residence."

"I know that!" snapped the woman in a burst of immature anger. "Who are you?"

"I'm Shinji Ikari. I live here."

"Ikari? Wait, you aren't the Third Child, are you?"

_"Keep NERV's secrets," said the imaginary specter of Misato, lecturing after she found out about his impromptu story-time with his classmates, "Or it's treason!"_

_The police pushing him into the squad car.__ "You're going away for a long, long time. You should have kept your mouth shut."_

_Father adjusting his glasses, then waving goodbye.__ "Don't drop the soap, son."_

_His cellmate smiling at him.__ "Purty."_

_soap soap soap soap soap soap_

"NO!" freaked Shinji. "I'm, uh, er, an only child. Yeah. Only one child here and he is me." He paused. "Well, me and Ayanami."

"what are you, stupid?"

_Yes. _"Can I take a message for Misato? Er, Captain Katsuragi?"

"I want to talk to you, _Third Child_."

"I have no idea whatsoever what you're talking about, Miss. If y-"

"This is a secure line! _Schiest__! _You think NERV would let you just take a phone call without Section-2 monitoring it?!" The woman growled. "God, you're dumber than a box of rocks. It's no wonder the 3rd Angel kicked your ass."

"what?"

"You heard me! I've seen the recordings! I watched them half a hundred times! You totally screwed the pooch on that one, Third Child!"

"Hey! I beat it, didn't I?!"

"Yeah, but only after you rolled over and let the Angel blow out your brains!" She deepened her voice, mimicking Shinji's. "Ow! Ow! Ow! My eye! My precious eye! Oh _daddy_, help me!"

Shinji reddened. "I got back up."

"Oh, sure, whatever."

_Why am I standing here letting myself be yelled at from half a world away by a strange German woman?_

"Hey, who are you to lecture me? And for that matter who are you anyway?"

Shinji's ear was almost deafened by her smile at that question. He didn't even know that was possible, but there it was. "I'm Asuka! Asuka Langely Soryu, the Second Child! I'm the designated pilot of Evangelion Unit-02!"

_"Who?"_

"What are you, stupid? I just told you!"

Shinji frowned. "I've never heard of you."

"Ha! Funny man."

"No, I mean Misato never told me about you."

"Well, obviously you weren't listening very closely."

"I don't think I've heard anyone at NERV talk about you."

"I very much doubt that."

The Second Child's tone made it _exceedingly_ clear what Shinji was supposed to say and what would happen if he didn't. "Y-yeah. Yes! Yes, you're right. I should listen better."

"Good," she said, satisfied. "Now we can get down to business."

"Business?"

"What are you, stupid? Your piloting! Obviously Misato and the rest of those Tokyo-3 idiots aren't teaching you a thing." She paused and Shinji could clearly picture this strange girl shaking her head in dismay. "Look, grab a pen and paper ready. You good? Great. We'll start with melee combat because you suck at it. Well, you suck at a lot of things, Third Child, but melee's as good a place as any to start correcting your amateurish mistakes. Now listen, the first th-"

"No! _You_ listen!" he suddenly snapped. Shinji, normally not one to give into anger, felt the past week's buildup of 'tension' suddenly burst out from his dam of control. It felt _good _to get some relief. "I'm not going to stand here and take notes from some girl who's never been in combat!"

"_What?!__ What?! What?!"_ Asuka growled. "I'm trying to HELP you and you're being a jerkoff?!"

Shinji blushed at her choice of words. "W-well," he stuttered, "so are you, y-you jerkoff!"

"NOW HOLD ON JU-"

Shinji hung up.

"Wow," he said to himself, coming down from his high, "what a bitch."

Once the shaking in his arms and legs stopped he went back to studying.

* * *

On the other side of the globe, Asuka Langley Soryu starred at the phone in her hand. "He hung up on me," she said flatly.

Ryouji Kaji, dangerously reclined in a kitchen table chair, shrugged as he lit up a new cigarette. "You could have been a _touch_ more diplomatic, dear."

"Well," said Asuka, expressing a mild mixture of annoyance and approval, "at least he's got some guts. An Eva pilot has to have that."

"Is that a note of fancy I hear?"

"What?! _As if!_ You're the only man for me, Kaji." She flipped her long red hair over a shoulder. "He'll come crawling back one he realizes how screwed he is without my good advice."

"I'm sure he will." Kaji carefully puffed out a smoke ring. "Let's eat. I'm starved."

* * *

The next morning, Shinji stood outside the bathroom with trepidation. In one arm he carried his towel and toothbrush. With his free hand he tapped hesitantly on the door. "Uh, hello?" he asked, already flinching away. "Aya-"

The door slid open. _Oh boy_. There she was again.

"Ikari."

Shinji closed his eyes and stepped to the side.

Ayanami walked by without another word.

_God, _he thought to himself_, why can't I live with normal people? Ones who don't walk around half-naked or all-naked or take sponge baths at the crack of dawn? I can't help it if I stare! I'm not a pervert! I'm trying to be good! It's just hard! Er, well not_ hard_ just difficult. Difficult with all their and Misato's and her ugh._

"You know what?" he sighed to himself, flexing his left hand. "Forget it."

Shinji enjoyed his hot shower.

* * *

In a vast, empty office room, two men schemed over a Go board.

"The Second made contact yesterday."

"Yes," said Gendo. "Did you listen to the tapes?"

"I was a little surprised that he hung up on her."

"My son may be a coward but even he has his moments."

"I doubt he would have acted the same if their chat had been face-to-face."

"As I said, he has moments." NERV's Commander studied the board between the two men. "And Inspector Kaji?"

"He's cooperating for now. He thinks we're acting in the best interests of the pilots by stirring up this rivalry, or at least that's the line he's feeding me." Kozo made a move. "No offer has yet been made."

"Don't worry. Everything is going according to plan so far."

"Yes, but what of the outcome? What if we end up destabilizing the Second before th-"

Gendo cut his friend off, "The benefits outweigh the negatives. Besides, all that matters in that case is that she maintains a synch ratio high enough to deal with the 16th Angel if our current strategy becomes untenable. In that event her mental state won't be a concern for anyone afterwards."

"Ikari, we should bring in Akagi. We don't have to tell her everything. Just enough to find some other way, a back-up plan. She's just a child."

"They're all soldiers fighting a war where defeat means extinction. Regardless of the cost to the other pilots we must do whatever it takes to defeat the Angels, and, if possible, protect Rei and Shinji." He matched eyes with his friend. "Victory over the Angels is not guaranteed. Never forget that."

"Hmph. Death hasn't mellowed you as much as it seemed."

"It made me realize who I am at heart." Gendo made his play. "Your move, Professor."

* * *

# # END

* * *

**Author's Notes: **I know what you're thinking: _Asuka's__ in the story already? Without flashing Touji on the Over the Rainbow? And where the hell's this all going anyway? _All questions to which I say: Heh heh heh. Gendo would probably just smirk and say "meatshield" before adjusting his glasses.

Asuka's three lines in German are collect call from "Pick up the damn telephone!" / "Misato? This is the right telephone number, yes?" and "Who is this?". I don't like unnecessary German or Japanese in fanfic so don't expect too much more of that.

Originally, this chapter had the 4th Angel battle (snore) in it, but I decided I wanted to spend more kicking Shinji's ass around before I dived into a Shinji/Gendo/Rei-centric story.

Rei's super-fertility is not my original idea. I actually got it from _"The One I Love Is"_ or one of its side-stories (it's been several years since I read it and I couldn't find the specific author's note elaborating on the idea). I always liked Alain Gravel's clever spin on the "woman who does not bleed" line and I don't think his interpretation gets enough play. The "any baby she has will miscarry 'cuz she's a mule" angle is my own twist on it. And if you think I'm being cruel to Rei, _just you wait!_ Ha ha ha! EVERYONE'S going to get screwed in this fanfic (**edit**: Honestly though, this isn't going to be a darkfic or a snuff fic.).

**Next Chapter: The Battle for the Future Begins! Gendo v SEELE: Round 1! Also, four dreams**


	8. Dreams 01

The nausea and cold sweat would come later, once he woke up. For now Gendo Ikari simply bore witness to the scene unfolding in his dream. He had had it before and he would have it again, each time the details slipping away before he even made the dash to the bathroom.

_It was nighttime. The world was silent. _

_He was looking at a beach, which in and of itself was unusual. The rising shorelines of Second Impact had washed away all the beaches of the world and not enough time had passed for waves and erosion to grind down the Earth's new coasts. Outside of newly coastal deserts the only sandy beaches were artificial tourist traps for the nostalgic. Gendo remembered taking Yui and Shinji to one such resort as a vacation from GEHIRN – it proved a mistake. Their boy, with no memories of natural beaches, had played happily in the golden sands. He and Yui took no real enjoyment from the setting. They couldn't forget that the waves Shinji played in covered dead cities. Somehow that fake sand on a fake beach embodied every guilty thing that they both had done in service of SEELE._

_This beach here was made of the purest white sand. Idly, Gendo wondered what it would feel like between his toes. Warm? Perhaps. He'd never know. He couldn't move from his spot levitating just above the calm waters offshore. He just… hovered._

_When he looked down and studied the sea. The sight of it turned the warmth in his veins to ice. The waters here were a familiar orange-red, similar to Dead Antarctica. _LCL_, he realized with a start. The sea was a sea of LCL. _

_He looked up above._

_The heavens blazed overhead, brilliant and unpolluted from the light of human civilization. Except this was no pristine night sky. There was a red streak cutting across the Milky Way, a thin, pulsing wound glimmering with millions and millions of crimson twinkles._

_Fear seized Gendo's heart. He knew where – _when_ – he was now._

_The noise shook him loose from his growing terror. It was a little more than a grunt but in this silent world it boomed like a cannon. _

_He looked down._

_There, across the way on the shoreline, his son was hunched over the body of a girl in a red plugsuit (the Second? He couldn't see for sure) and Shinji was strangling her. Weirdly, Gendo's first question was not why his son was trying to murder this helpless girl but rather why either of them was on the beach at all. Hadn't Instrumentality succeeded? The heavens above said so. _

_Why then were they on this shore?_

_Gendo never had the chance to ask his son that question. Before he even opened his mouth the dream ended as it always did – with the soft gurgling _snap_ of the girl's neck._

* * *

# # # presenting # # #

* * *

**TAKING SIGHTS**

**Chapter 07 – Dreams (I)**

**Written by: Lavanya Six**

**(please don't sue)**

* * *

# # # another installment in a continuing series # # #

* * *

"Suzahara!" Hikari Horaki stomped down the hallway towards the tall boy. "What's taking so long?! And where's Aida?! Don't you two realize this is an emergency?!"

The civil defense alarms had gone off during the middle of the school day, not ten minutes after the first lunch bell. Hikari, as the Class Representative of 2-A, had shepherded her classmates in an orderly fashion to Geo-Shelter 334. Buried within a nearby hill, it was shielded by two layers of blast armor and several dozen meters of earth. All of which meant zilch when you couldn't keep the people inside.

"Yeah, Class Rep," Touji said, his eyes darting to the men's room door opposite the wall he was leaning against. "He had to go _real_ bad."

Hikari knew bullshit when she smelled it. "Bad, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah! He doesn't, you know, get a lot of, uh, fiber. And he eats all sorts of instant crap when he stays up late painting his models."

The Class Rep frowned in thought. If Aida wasn't in the shelter and Suzahara was trying to say he was in the bathroom then the only place he could… no! He couldn't be _that_ stupid! Nobody in their right mind would be that stupid!

...then again this was _Kensuke Aida_ she was talking about. Hikari still remembered how the freckled boy had gotten into a ten minute argument with a filing cabinet in the sixth grade.

And lost.

"Suzahara," she started, resisting the urge to do something undignified like slapping her forehead, "if you're his friend you know he can't be outside. It's not safe."

The tall boy stuck to his fiction. "Jeez, Horaki, he's just taking a long, sloppy dum-"

"He could die," she said quietly. "Do you want your friend to die?"

For a moment Touji Suzahara's face was like granite. Then, with only a trembling in his eyes as a precursor, he slumped against the wall and sighed. "Why can't I ever lie to you?"

"Because you trust me," she said. "Which is sort of sweet."

Suzahara blushed, then stood up and looked over her shoulder back towards the shelter proper. "Shit. We don't have to tell an adult, do we? He'll get into all sorts of, um, _trouble_ with his old man. Y'know?"

Hikari remembered. "We... we can go get him," she said nervously. "We go get him and then come right back. We don't have to tell anyone about going outside."

"T-thank you, Hikari."

"That certainly doesn't mean you both are getting away with it!" she added, walking past him to the exit. "I hope you're handy with a mop, Suzahara, because you and Aida just got clean-up duty all of this month AND next month."

He groaned as if in pain.

They were quick to find their mark. Aida had taken position just a short hop up the hill from the shelter. There was a break in the brush that afforded an unobstructed view of Tokyo-3.

"AIDA!!"

The boy jerked as if someone had dropped a toaster in his bath. "C-Class Rep! Ow ow ow ow!"

Hikari pulled him along by his ears. "We're going back inside!"

"Bu- bu- but-"

"Class Rep," said Suzahara, pointing. "_Look!_"

In the middle of Tokyo-3 stood a giant… thing. If asked, Hikari would have blushed and said it looked like a snake. Touji would have disagreed.

"Man," the tall boy said. "That looks like a HUGE dic-"

"SUZAHARA!"

"Here it comes!" cheered Aida.

A grinding and clash of metal filled Tokyo-3 as a purple-green colossus rose from the underground. With a lithe stride that seemed at odds with its size Evangelion Unit-01 sprang into action. Picking up a rifle suddenly revealed to be from inside a nearby skyscraper the Eva took aim at the Angel and fired. Hikari had imagined what Shinji must do for his job but nothing in her dreams had come close to seeing it.

"Oh man oh man oh man oh man! This is AWESOME!"

"How the hell does he drive that thing?" asked Suzahara.

Aida was quick with an answer. "Ikari spilled that it was some sort of neural interface."

"Huh?"

"His mind," she explained. "Aida's saying he controls it with his mind."

"Wild." He glanced at his otaku friend. "Why didn't you just say that in the first place?"

"Look," she said, not able to draw her eyes away from the two titans circling each other, "we need to get back inside ri-"

An explosion rocked Tokyo-3. The three teens were shocked to see the giant mecha knocked backwards through half a dozen skyscrapers, cutting a trench of utter destruction across the city's face.

The purple giant picked itself up, ejected the cable fitted into its back, and made a break for southeast of the city, just a few short kilometers away from the teen's hillside. The phallic-looking Angel stood still, as if debating over what to do. As the Evangelion passed a row of armored skyscrapers in the outlying business district the robot's lower half came clearly into view. A shiver ran through Hikari we she saw Unit-01 cradle its left hand to the bloody wound on its midsection.

"How can a robot bleed?" asked Suzahara, confused.

"It's probably just hydraulic fluid," confidently replied Aida. "Or coolant."

"No," she whispered, "that's blood."

.

_("Ikari spilled that it was some sort of neural interface.")_

_("Getting in the Eva hurts.")_

.

The words of Shinji Ikari came back to her, finally making awful sense. "Oh my God," said Hikari, the cold truth taking away all warmth. "That happened to him too. He can feel it. _He can feel it._"

The three teens watched the rest of the short battle in silence.

* * *

"Status?"

"Those tentacles went through Unit-01's armor like it wasn't even there," replied Lt. Hyuga. "We've lucky they cauterized the wound of the way out, otherwise the Eva would be spilling its guts out."

"Damn," she swore softly, surveying the array of data windows spread across the Commander Center's main viewscreen. _I should have ignored that memo from the Commander. Shinji needed melee training, not sniper school. _

"Doctor Akagi, prep the Posititron Rifle for deployment."

"It's already good to go," said the blonde scientist.

"That was fast."

"New S.O.P. – Commander's Orders."

_Again? Why the hell did they bring me here if Commander Ikari is going to micromanage my department?_ "Shinji," she called over the intercom, "we're deploying the Posititron Rifle. You've got three shots before the batteries drain. Make them count."

* * *

"Y-yes." Shinji looked away from Misato's window on his HUD. The older woman scared him a little. How could anyone be so different at work than they were at home?

In front of the Eva a section of the roadway slid away, revealing a shaft down to the Geo-Front. With a rush of sparks a weapon carriage sprang from the hole. Shinji reached for the high-energy rifle with burned and bloodied hands, openly wincing as the feedback from his Eva sent waves of hot pain from his abdomen as he stretched out the wound.

The 4th Angel was advancing on, methodically destroying all the buildings that stood in its way with a flurry of slashes. Eyeing the targeting computer's reticule, Shinji took sight of the Angel's Core…

…and waited.

He needed to neutralize the Angel's AT-Field a bit more if this gun was going to work. He'd blown it with the 3rd Angel and almost gotten killed. That German girl had been right. He didn't know what the hell he was doing.

Why was he even piloting? Ayanami had said it was to please his father. He didn't want to believe her. It hurt his heart too much to think that was the truth. He piloted to honor his mother, not his father. He piloted to save people, to save the world! Yes, _that_ was why he piloted.

Right?

The 4th Angel was getting closer… closer… Oh God!

"FIRE NOW!" screamed Misato.

_Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work! Please work!_

Shinji pulled the trigger.

* * *

Fuyutsuki couldn't help grinning. The sight of the charred, smoking corpse of the 4th Angel onscreen was nothing less than a triumph. He'd feared they only be able to pulverize the Core, leaving enough remnants to study the S2 Organ. Instead the upgraded Posititron Rifle had blazed a shot through and through, totally annihilating the Core. There would be nothing left for analysis. Hell, the poor bastard had been blown in half!

But the best part about their first blow at SEELE? The old men would never know what he and Ikari had conspired to deny them today – the Fruit of Life itself.

Ikari favored him with a brief glance. "I should have brought my sunglasses, Professor."

"Hmm?"

"Because," he said in that flat, neutral tone of his, "your smile's so bright."

Not too funny but Fuyutsuki couldn't help it. Today that was worth a laugh.

* * *

Ritsuko glanced over her shoulder. "The Vice-Commander seems happy."

"Why not? We won." Misato didn't bother looking behind her. The battle, or rather post-battle, was her only concern right now. "Are you sure that thing is dead?"

Maya answered. "Yes, Captain. The MAGI report the Blue Pattern is gone. Energy readings in the Angel are zeros across the board."

"We need to retrieve Unit-01," cut in Ritsuko, "and start making repairs. Its internals have sustained heavy damage."

Captain Katsuragi nodded. "Shinji, the operation is over. We're calling you back. I'll meet you in the Cage."

"Y-yes, Misato."

"And Shinji?"

"Yes?"

"Good work."

* * *

Shinji took his time in the shower. He knew he was avoiding the debriefing with Misato but right now all he wanted was some quiet. His gut still tingled where the 4th Angel has flayed Unit-01 open. Shinji could feel the warmth of the phantom injury on the tissues of his insides; the slightest pulsing and throbs of his internal organs touched off waves of unscratchable itching.

_I thought getting my eye gouged out was the worst they could do to me._

After a long while he shut off the water and dressed in the school uniform he had come onto base wearing. They had been cleaned in the interim, which seemed faintly amusing to Shinji. While he had been topside taking on the 4th Angel some random guy had the job of washing and drying his dirty laundry for when he got back.

Bracing himself for the inevitable Shinji walked outside the locker room.

He froze with one foot out the door. His father, not Misato, was waiting for him.

"Shinji."

"F-Father." He looked around. "Where's Misato?"

"Captain Katsuragi is in the Briefing Room. I offered to escort you up." His father adjusted those orange glasses of his. _Odd fashion choice for an adult_. "I thought we could take the time to talk."

Warmth shot through Shinji. "Really?"

"Yes. Also, I was hoping we could meet tomorrow night for dinner," he said charitably. Yet… something about his father's tone set Shinji on edge. For a moment he considered that his father was putting on an air of interest for him but Shinji squashed that traitorous, guilty thought. "I would like to see how you are settling in with Captain Katsuragi."

"Uh, okay?"

His father offered a slight nod and a barely audible grunt. "Six o'clock tomorrow then." He gestured towards the elevator at the far end of the hallway. "If you'll follow me, the Captain is probably wondering where we are."

"R-right."

"So, how are your studies going?"

"Well…"

* * *

"We're finished."

Rei opened her eyes. The dim light of the Dummy Plug Production Plant wrapped around her, distorted through the LCL she bathed in. The tests today hadn't been a full upload, merely a diagnostic of the transfer system. The Commander wouldn't risk Rei having mental contact with the spares until her injuries were fully healed. Since the copies of Rei mimicked her form, presenting them with an unhealthy Rei template would lead them to manifest broken arms and bruised ribs of their own. Untreated, such injuries could present serious problems in ensuring viable cores for the Dummy Plugs. Or for Rei, should she need to be replaced again in the future.

The LCL drained away. Rei cleared her lungs. When she was released from the tube Doctor Akagi had already exited the room. Had Rei not been distracted by the pain of her unwrapped arm (birthday suits only in the test tube) she would have noticed the unusual urgency in Dr. Akagi's stride.

"Good work, Rei," said the Commander.

"Yes, sir."

He offered her a towel. She accepted. Rei was unconcerned with her nudity in front of Gendo Ikari. "I will be joining you, Captain Katsuragi, and Shinji tomorrow night for dinner at your new apartment."

Rei frowned ever-so-slightly.

"No, it's not business," he answered. "I wish to see how you and Pilot Ikari are adjusting to your new housing."

"I am having no problems, sir."

"Do you like living there?"

The personal question struck Rei as odd. Even after their long conversations in the hospital the First Child still found it distracting when the Commander asked her for her opinion. "It… it is satisfactory."

"Good." He paused. "Rei, what is your purpose?"

Rei answered easily, "My primary purpose is the act as a conduit for Human Instrumentality. My secondary purpose is to pilot Eva and defeat the Angels in order to bring about the necessary conditions for Instrumentality."

"That is no longer correct," said the Commander.

Rei stiffened.

"Instrumentality is no longer a goal of mine," calmly explained the Commander, his eyes set on hers. "I have come to the decision that avoiding Third Impact is now my own primary purpose."

"W-why?"

Questioning the Commander's decision verged on treason, Rei knew, but right now she felt… strange. Her heart was beating rapidly yet she felt cold. Everything she saw or heard seemed to be clearer, more memorable. It was similar to an adrenaline rush yet possessed an emotional component that was foreign to Rei.

"That is not necessary for you to know," said the Commander.

"I understand," Rei lied. _I have… lied? To __**him**__?_

The Commander studied her for a moment. Rei did not break eye contact. Soon he said, "Your primary purpose will now be to pilot Eva and defeat the Angels."

Rei relaxed a bit. Her feet had grounding again. "Sir, what will my purpose be once the Angels have been destroyed?"

"You will have no purpose at that point save for what you choose for yourself."

Behind her mask Rei felt nauseous. "I see."

The Commander smiled gently. "You'll be free, Rei," he said, patting her paternally on the shoulder. "I expect that you'll have a long and happy life."

Rei shivered. The Commander mistook her reaction as a sign of coldness. He offered her another towel. She accepted it, hoping to keep up her masquerade.

"I will see you tomorrow night at Captain Katsuragi's," he said, leaving her at the shower room entrance. "Good night."

Alone, Rei swiftly walked over to the nearest toilet stall and – once she was satisfied that the Commander was not in earshot – she vomited violently. Everything in her stomach came rushing out, the bile and acid burning her throat, as Rei responded the only way she was capable of with the emotional storm that raged inside her.

Over the sink, as she cleaned her mouth out with cool running water, Rei noticed something dripping onto her hands. A glance in the mirror shocked the teen.

Gingerly, she touched her wet cheek. "Am I… crying?"

* * *

Riiiiing… Riiiiing… Riiiiing... Riiiiing… Riiiiing…

"Come on, pick up!"

Riiiiing… Riiiiing… Riii-_click_ "Yes?"

"Ritsu! Finally! I was wondering what was taking you so long. I've been calling all over base trying to f-"

"_Misato!_" snapped her friend. "Now _really_ isn't a good time."

"Commander Ikari is coming over to my place for dinner!!"

"…what?"

"He's coming over to my apartment tomorrow night! Shinji says he wanted to have dinner with Shinji, Rei, and me! What the hell am I going to do?!"

"…and this is an emergency… how?"

"Because my place is a sty! And it's worlds colliding, Ritsu!"

The doctor was not impressed. "So you'll have to drink coffee at dinner for once. Welcome to adulthood. Now I really have to get going."

Misato slid into 'captain' mode. "Is there something going on?"

"It's nothing in your department, Misato. I just found out one of our subcontractors is screwing over the Technical Division and now I have to clean up the mess."

"Isn't that more a job for Legal?"

"You'd think so," Ritsuko huffed. "But the matter concerns E-Project so I need to get my hands dirty. I'll fill you in later but I really need to get going."

"Uh, sure. Good luck."

_click_

* * *

The next day found Hikari Horaki in a strange parallel universe. It was a world where Shinji Ikari smiled and happily enjoyed the morning.

"Hi, Hikari!"

"Uh, good morning, Shinji." She glanced at the expressionless girl at the transfer student's side. "Good morning, Ayanami."

"..."

The three children hooked up a few blocks from their school. Since Rei had come off her crutches she had taken to walking to school again. Shinji had explained that Rei resisted offers from their guardian to take a car ride to school even with her leg not fully healed. Rei did not elaborate why. Shinji told Hikari after she had pressed him about it that he suspected that Rei didn't want to be a bother.

After a few minutes of walking in silence the lone boy spoke up, "Hikari?"

"Yes, Shinji?"

"I was, uh, wondering…." He absentmindedly scratched his head. "Well, I was wondering if you could help me with something after school. It's not big. I just need a hand grocery shopping. I'm cooking dinner tonight for my father and I want it to be something special. And, well, I don't really know too many places around this city."

"Oh! Sure. I'm glad to help." _Is he always like this the day after fighting giant monsters? He doesn't seem hurt at all._ "Shinji?"

"Yeah?"

"Just so you know, um, Kensuke Aida may be asking you questions today."

"_Oh_," he said, his smile dropping a bit. "I guess I should have expected that."

"And there's more." Hikari held her breath. "You see, Aida… videotaped it."

Shinji cocked his head to the side, not understanding.

"The fight. Yesterday."

The boy's eyes widened. "_What?_"

"Look, don't tell anyone, please!" the pig-tailed girl felt flush. "I found out Aida left the shelter yesterday and when Suzahara and I went out to get him the fight was almost over. I made him promise not to show the recording to anyone for now. Suzahara says he'll hold off for a few weeks because he doesn't want to get in trouble with NERV or the school. If anyone found out I went outside the shelter during an emergency without telling anyone-"

She stopped, unable to bring herself to elaborate.

"I-it's fine," said Shinji. "Don't worry about it. I won't tell anyone. Neither will Rei."

The sound of her name caused the pale girl looked over to the pair. Her expression was a touch confused.

"You won't tell anyone, right, Rei?" asked Shinji.

"Tell who what, Ikari?"

Shinji smiled at Hikari. "See?"

With his head turned away from her, only Hikari noticed Rei open her mouth to ask a question, then, without saying a word, close it and turn back to her own thoughts. The strange sight of Rei Ayanami at a loss for words captivated Hikari, so much so that she didn't notice the stop sign until she walked right into it.

"Ow!"

Shinji helped her up. "Hikari! Are you alright?"

"Y-yes," she replied, gingerly rubbing her banged head. "Just don't tell anyone about that either. I don't think I could live it down."

* * *

"Beer stains?"

"Cleaned."

"Beer smell?"

"Aired out."

"Beer cans?"

"Recycled."

Misato patted her hands together in a 'job well done' motion. "Well, I think that takes care of that. Just try not to make a move on Rei in front of your father."

"M-Misato!" _Why can't she leave that alone?_ "There's nothing going on between us."

His guardian cackled evilly. "_Not yet_, but with Matchmaker Misato on the task-"

Shinji sighed and walked over to the fridge. He needed to start dinner soon if everything would be finished by the time his father arrived. Misato, meanwhile, treated herself to a frosty beer from her private stock.

"Oooooooooh yeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaah," she moaned after downing a whole can. "That hit the spot!" Misato belched. "So Shinji," she said, "what's on the menu?"

He busied himself with arranging the pots and pans on the stove. "Chicken and rice. Rei mentioned that my father eats it a lot." _They also have dinner together a lot. She seemed _happy_ about that,_ he thought with a bitterness that surprised him.

"Huh." NERV's Operations Director slammed the empty beer can against her forehead, crushing it. "So have you thought about what you're going to wear tonight?"

"Misato," he replied flatly, "I'm a boy."

* * *

Gendo Ikari walked into his apartment's kitchen dressed in a black turtleneck and his boxer shorts. Kozo Fuyutsuki averted his eyes as he saw more of Gendo Ikari's bare legs than he ever wanted to see. Ikari held up two pairs of slacks. "What do you think: should I go with the khaki or the black pants?"

"The khaki. Black on black makes you look like the Prince of Darkness."

"Hmm. Yes, I see your point." Gendo set the black pants on a nearby chair, careful not to wrinkle the dry clean only clothing. Shuffling about he put on the khaki-colored slacks.

Fuyutsuki sipped his coffee and winced. _Why does Ikari still drink this instant shit? _"How did Chairman Keel take your report?"

"They were quite concerned with our cost overruns," he said, zipping up his fly.

"So same old, same old?"

"Yes."

"And the budget for Eva Units 03 and 04?"

"The Americans have finally caved. Production will proceed on schedule, as expected."

"Minus them avoiding the loss of Nevada to the S2's sabotage."

"If it was sabotage. We were never able to determine that for sure. _Ugh_. Did you put sugar in my coffee?"

"Yes."

"Asshole." Gendo tipped out part of coffee into the kitchen sink and added some hot water to dilute the sugar. "Sometimes I think you're trying to kill me with a thousand paper cuts, old man."

Fuyutsuki ignored him. "And Unit-05? It-"

"-is unimportant and will be cannibalized for parts. This is terrible coffee."

"Christ, get a coffee maker like an adult, okay? Or just make your own damn cup."

"I didn't blow up Antarctica just so I could make my own coffee," he sniffed. "Wait, were you referring to _the_ Unit-05 or the Unit-05 Mass-Production Series?"

"The former. I was thinking that we might be able to squeeze an additional Eva from SEELE before the end."

"Unlikely, Fuyutsuki. They won't want us to have too many tools at our disposal if we should turn on them at the end." He sipped his drink. "The only reason we'll be getting Unit-04 is because of the 13th Angel."

"So… this is your first sit-down dinner with Shinji in, what, seven years?"

"Eight, not counting the re-take."

"Eight years." Fuyutsuki walked over to the sink and refilled his mug with hot water. It was about as strong as the instant mix he had been drinking. "Though I'm curious as to why you're involving Katsuragi and the First."

"Because neither of us are conversationalists, as I discovered during our lunch shortly after his arrival."

"Really?" asked Fuyutsuki, his tone free of irony. "So it has nothing at all to do with you being scared of your own son?"

"Watch your mouth, old man." _I need a drink._ "However, I will admit dealing with Shinji is… difficult."

Kozo sighed. "Just be honest with the boy."

Gendo fiddled with his black turtleneck. It felt odd to not wear his NERV uniform; like he was missing a layer of skin. "Being honest about my feelings is what got me bitten in half by Unit-01 last time. Besides, Shinji doesn't want honesty, he wants love and approval."

"That's easy enough to give."

_Spoken like a man who never had children_. "Doctor Akagi?" he asked, switching to other business.

"The operation will begin tonight at 1600 Hours. The falsified data is prepped for the MAGI. Everything is on schedule."

"Excellent," he said, putting his mug in the dishwasher. "Alert me if there are any complications."

Kozo smiled gamely. "Good night, Ikari, and good luck."

* * *

Riiiiing… Riiiiing… Riiiiing... Riiiiing… Riiiiing…

"SHINJI!" shouted Misato from the bathroom. "Take a message!"

"I have my hands full!" he yelled from the kitchen.

"REI! Take a message!"

The First Child blinked. "I see." She walked over to the ringing phone and picked it up.

_Click_

"Hello. You have reached the Katsuragi Residence," said Rei tonelessly, pen and paper ready. "If you would like to leave a message, please tell me your name and telephone number so Captain Katsuragi will be able to return your call."

The voice on the other end of the line stumbled a bit. "Uh… hi, Misato. It's me, Asuka. I was just calling about the 4th Angel battle. I was hoping you could forward some video to me. The asshats here are strangling me in red tape. So, um, yeah. Bye."

_Click_

After Rei transcribed the message she wandered back to her bedroom for a short nap.

* * *

Meanwhile, around the world in Germany, Asuka Langley Soryu snapped her cell phone shut. "Damn," she said.

"What?" asked Kaji, not looking up from the spy novel in his hands.

"Misato wasn't home. I got her answering machine."

"Huh."

"Really fake, robotic voice too. I thought the Japanese were supposed to have all that hi-tech shiny crap."

"Katsuragi's probably just cheap."

* * *

The ringing of the doorbell sent a bolt of fear through Shinji.

Misato smoothed out her nice black dress one last time, then looked up at Shinji. "Aren't you going to get it?"

"Huh? …Oh!"

Taking one last breath before he opened the automatic door, Shinji braced himself for the night to come. _This is it,_ he thought to himself.

The door slid open. There stood his father, the Supreme Commander of NERV, in casual dress, holding a decent-sized tub of ice cream in his hands.

The two Ikaris stared at one another, unsure of how to break the silence.

His father thrust forward the ice cream. It was Neapolitan, the creamy Munich Agreement-esq answer to people faced with fraught dessert choices. "I would have brought wine but I remembered you're too young." He winced at his choice of words. "Anyway, take it."

"Thanks," Shinji replied softly, accepting the gift.

The two returned to their awkward standoff.

"Uh, would you like to come in?"

Father stepped past him, making his way to the kitchen.

"W-welcome home…."

Shinji shuffled to catch up with his father. It didn't prove too difficult. The elder Ikari had been stopped at the kitchen's entrance by Shinji's quietest roommate. Well, normally his quietest roommate. Now...

"_Grrrrrrr!_"

"Pen-Pen!" snapped Misato, flushing. "That's a bad, bad penguin! Go to your room!"

The warm-water avian gave his father one last glare before pivoting around and waddling off to his personal refrigerator.

Misato chucked nervously. "I'm sorry, Commander. I don't know what got into the little guy. He usually so friendly."

His father blinked, then adjusted his glasses. "I was not aware that penguins could growl."

"Probably something with the genetic engineering," she offered lamely.

Shinji pulled out a seat for his father. After staring at him oddly for a second, the elder Ikari settled down at the head of the table. "The food smells good. What is it?"

"Chicken and rice with saffron, plus steamed vegetables on the side."

"Ah, my favorite. How did you know?"

Shinji glanced at Rei. The pale girl was diligently avoiding his father's attention. "Ayanami told me."

"Oh?"

Shinji could have sworn the blue-haired teen shivered when Father spoke. _Must be my imagination_. "Here, let me fill your plate…."

* * *

Shinji ate. "..."

Rei ate. "..."

Commander Ikari ate. "..."

_Good Lord, _thought Misato, picking at her food, _I'm the only extrovert at this table, aren't I? I know I could crack this scene open with a dirty joke or two but I can't do that in front of the Commander. I'm can't even get drunk! This is hell itself! _

"Shinji," she said, breaching the silence, "the food is excellent."

Rei blinked. Misato grabbed at that as a sign of concurrence. The Commander merely grunted. Or maybe it was just a loud breath.

"T-thank you, Misato."

No more followed that. The two Ikaris and Rei averted their eyes from one another and methodically emptied their plates. Misato sighed and turned her efforts to more feasible tasks, like willing the water in her glass to transmute into wine.

* * *

"..."

"..."

"..."

"So, anyone up for some ice cream and coffee for dessert?"

* * *

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Wow, that was good, wasn't it?"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"It sure was!"

* * *

Cast in the golden red light of a sunset, Gendo Ikari couldn't help but feel content with being alive. Here he was, with a second chance at life, knee-deep again in that marvelous game of intrigue with only the fate of humanity at stake. His emotionally unstable son was again piloting a god-like machine against beings of otherwordly power in a war that could very well result in the annihilation of the souls of every human being who had ever lived.

It was nice for everything to be back to normal.

And here he was watching the sunset with Shinji! How strange! To think only a short while ago his son took out the world in pique of murder-suicide that put SEELE's crimes in the Second Impact to shame! And Shinji had just _cooked dinner for him_.

Gendo had to admit that Katsuragi's balcony at least had a nice view of the city. He always appreciated a good view. He hadn't designed his office just for intimidation alone, after all. _I wonder how she can afford this place. _Then again, he supposed, considering she was one of four tenants in the whole building such views weren't exactly at a premium.

At his side (well, on the other side of the balcony) stood Shinji, also looking out over the cityscape bathed in the fading sun. He seemed content with the silence. Both Rei and the Captain knew not to interfere at this moment. That meant one thing:

_Showtime._

"Congratulations are in order."

Shinji turned his head and stared at him dumbly.

Gendo looked at his son. "Two Angel encounters in three weeks, both of them single-handedly won by you. That's very impressive considering your short time training. You have quite the gift."

"T-thank you," he said weakly.

"No, I should be thanking you. You didn't _need_ to come here, Shinji, but you did anyways. You very likely saved Rei's life if we had been forced to have her pilot Unit-01. You've done a lot of good piloting Eva. You saved the world twice over. Few people in history can claim to do so even once."

His son said nothing.

_Time to move in for the kill. _

He smiled for the boy. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm _proud_ of you, son."

* * *

_Proud of him?_ He said so but his cold eyes… no, Father was lying. Shinji knew in his heart that Father was lying. He wasn't proud of Shinji at all. He was just telling him that because he knew Shinji... wanted to hear those words. Just like Rei knew he had.

_("So you do not pilot the Eva in order to gain acceptance from your Father?")_

_("Family reunions rarely involve signing off on security clearance.")_

His father looked back out over the balcony, taking in the sight of the lingering light. "Not many people could do what you do, son," Father said, laying it on thick, oblivious that he had seen through his ruse. "I don't know if I could."

_God_, he thought with mounting shame, _Rei was right_. _I'm pathetic._

"Your mother would be proud too."

_Mother? She built Unit-01. The Oni System, Ritsuko called it. The one Eva nobody thought they'd ever find a compatible pilot for… until they found me. He's probably lying about Rei being able to pilot it too. He's saying it just so it doesn't look like he tricked me into doing something he needed._

"Still, I want you to know that the burden won't be on you alone for much longer. Unit-00 is nearly ready for its retest and Unit-02 will be arriving in-"

Shinji wasn't listening anymore. The anger and pain and hurt of all his years alone were welling up within him. _Father isn't proud of me at all! He knows I… I want him to be proud of me so he's lying to make me happy! He's using me to pilot Eva, that's all. Just like Uncle said! _

It dawned on Shinji that Father had stopped talking and was staring at him, the false sincerity wiped away from his face. In its place was the cool, clinical detachment that Shinji came to expect from his father. That sealed the deal for Shinji. Father _was_ lying. He'd been lying since the beginning.

"Son, is s-"

Shinji's fist lashed out without thought.

* * *

Misato, nursing a coffee she sorely wished was Irish, sat with her other ward at the kitchen table. _Let the boys have their alone time. Maybe with some girl talk I can crack Rei Ayanami._

"So," she said casually, "dinner was pretty good, huh?"

Rei did not react.

"I thought the chicken was pretty tasty," Misato ran a finger around the rim of her coffee cup. "Not a veggie fan myself but our boy Shinji does wonders with them, huh?"

Nothing. The Captain studied her charge's expressionless face. Well, not expressionless. Misato was starting to come to conclusion that Rei Ayanami _did_ crack that poker face of hers but you had to know the right signs, the proper triggers. The First Child was subtle. _But I'm better._

"The Commander likes you."

Rei stiffened. Her eyes widened just a smidge. "I… no."

"He does. Just look at how he behaved at dinner." _He likes you more than Shinji; that much was clear._ "He cares about you too."

Rei frowned a Rei frown – subtle but there.

"Like and dislike are irrelevant," explained the pale girl. "I only need to follow the Commander's orders."

_Shit, Asuka is going to _hate_ this girl. _"No, it's more than that," she said, pushing away thoughts of the future. "There's something there. I mean, he takes an interest in your future too, doesn't he?"

Rei paled. _She can get paler?_ An odd expression of queasiness took hold of her face. This expression, unlike the others, stuck around. _Not the kind of points I wanted to score… but I can work with it._

"Well, what do you want to do, Rei? What's the game plan after we smite the Angels' collective asses? Astronaut? Geisha? Naughty librarian?"

"I do not know."

"Come on! You have to have some idea of what you want to do!"

"I have never had such desires. I had not planned on living that long."

Misato blinked. "Oh, because of… you know?"

Rei tensed. "The Commander told you?"

"It's in your file."

"It is?"

"Of course, silly! It's not exactly a secret about your, well, your condition. I mean, you take enough pills that anyone would catch on."

Rei relaxed. "Yes. My illness."

"Doctor Akagi said it's perfectly treatable," she said. "You'll be able to live a full life, especially with Ritsu on the job." An errant thought caught up with Misato. "Wait, you said you hadn't planned on living that long. So you understand that you'll live longer now with your new meds?"

"My circumstances... have changed," she said, her voice tinged with misery.

Not for the last time Misato was puzzled and saddened by Rei's strangeness. _Poor girl, what the hell happened to you?_ "Well, Rei," she began, musing over her coffee, "you could go to university, continue your education. You could travel. You could travel and just live off your pension."

While they were paid beans for the duration of the Angel War (being minors that NERV wanted under its thumb), part of the deal for piloting Eva entitled the Children to a _very_ generous lifetime stipend with an array of benefits. Misato thought it was a fair deal all things considered. Ikari and SEELE had devised the contract as a means of placating nervous Nellies at the UN wary of the P.R. aspect of sending fourteen year-olds into battle against otherworldly beings. Still, some penny pinchers at the UN rankled at the sheer expense of the plan. That was no concern to SEELE. It wasn't like the Children would be round to collect after Instrumentality anyways.

Or anyone else for that matter.

"You could start a family one day."

"That is not possible," calmly explained Rei. "I am barren."

_Okaaaaaaaaaaay. _"Um, Rei, I'm, uh, sorry." Misato paused, letting an awkward silence fill the kitchen. When she saw Rei was still waiting for her to speak the older woman blurted, "You could adopt!"

Rei considered that proposal thoughtfully. Misato took solace in any reaction out of the girl. "I see," she said. "I never considered that possibility."

"Well, you've got years and years to decide now."

The First Child suddenly turned away from Misato.

"Rei?"

"..."

The teen began to quake.

"Rei? Rei, what's wrong? You can tell me."

The girl turned her gaze back to Misato and when their eyes met the older woman nearly flinched at the storm of emotion in Rei's eyes. The rest of the pale girl's face was neutral, verging on bored, but her eyes… dear God, her eyes…

Rei opened her mouth. Whatever she meant to say, Misato never discovered. The two females were ripped from that transitory moment of open-heartedness when the balcony's sliding door spiderwebbed with the loud, sharp _crack_ of breaking glass.

* * *

The boy panted, the rage working its way out of him. A flick of Gendo's eyes confirmed that Shinji's fist – still held against the spot where he'd thrown it – was at least not bleeding. The glass sliding door had spiderwebbed around Shinji's fist but not cracked or thrown up sharp edges. Tokyo-3's safety codes required that special types of safety glass were used in construction – only logical in a city expecting a war. The fact that his son managed to dent such strong material probably meant a broken finger to two, though.

It was rather impressive that his weakling son was capable of such passion, Gendo noted with detached but honest pride.

"Y-you… b-b-bastard," Shinji whispered, eyes cast down.

"Shinji," he said evenly, not quite sure what set off his son's normally subdued temper, "your hand – is it hurt?"

The boy said nothing. His breathing was becoming calmer, deeper. He took back his fist from the glass but did not unclench it.

"Shin-"

"I can't believe I trusted you," his son said, his voice again barely a whisper.

"..."

"It would have been okay if you just wanted me for s-s-something," he said, tears starting to run down his face. "I knew that's a-all you ever n-n-n-need from me. But why did you have _to lie_? I would have come anyways." Shinji looked up at him with an expression of pure misery. Gendo understood this was son laid bare. "I n-need to know. Did… did you lie about m-m-mother too?"

_God damn it_, swore Gendo to himself, _this is why Yui was the one who talked him out when he hid under his bed._ "Shin-"

The boy never gave him a chance to explain. He read what he wanted in Gendo's manner. "I won't _**ever**_ forgive you," Shinji whispered. With that the boy ran back into the apartment.

* * *

The cracking glass distracted Rei from her own tortured thoughts. Captain Katsuragi's words had been intended as kind ones but they had ripped into the First's heart. She didn't want to think about her future. She wasn't supposed to have a future. Now the Commander said she had a future.

But all Rei Ayanami really wanted was to die.

Pilot Ikari dashed past her, hiding his face from both her and Captain Katsuragi. The guardian stood up, forgetting about Rei, and the First Child found she was grateful for that. Her relief was short-lived, however, because the Commander stalked back into the apartment. The anger and irritation on his face was wiped away by shock when he saw Rei's wet cheeks and reddened eyes.

The Commander stared at her. Rei found she was unable to break his lock on her eyes. He relented after several seconds, looking up and over at Captain Katsuragi.

"I should go," was all he said.

And so he did.

Katsuragi put a hand on Rei's shoulder. The physical human contact was oddly satisfying. "Rei," said the older woman, "just wait here for now, okay? I want to talk with you but first I need to check on Shinji to see if he's okay."

"Yes, ma'am."

For some reason the Captain squeezed her shoulder, then released her grip and walked off to the Third Child's bedroom.

The First Child didn't have much in this world, not even a sense of purpose anymore, but she still had her duty. So long as she was given orders she would follow them. At least then everything was crystal clear.

So, alone in the kitchen, Rei Ayanami waited as ordered.

* * *

It was another late night emergency meeting in the Commander's Office, one lubricated with some much needed bourbon.

"I really fucked up," said Gendo, gingerly rubbing his forehead. It was a futile gesture that would do nothing to stem his growing headache. "He's going to run away now."

"You said he ran away in the original timeline right around this point," offered his friend, ignoring the full glass in his own hand. "He'll come back."

"No he won't. Not this time. He doesn't have a social network to support him. His only contact outside of NERV this time around is the Horaki girl and according to our reports she's little more than a casual acquaintance. It will be extremely difficult to manipulate her into going to Shinji's aid at this juncture without him shying away from her gender. He needs male companionship, not another skirt to hide behind." Gendo sipped his drink. "The Captain will be tainted by association with me. He isn't scheduled to develop a stable domestic relationship with her until the Jet-Alone Incident later this month. No. He'll definitely run away."

Kozo sighed. "Six days before the next Angel attack. Rei will have to pilot Unit-01 if we can't stop him."

"We need _two _Evas, Fuyutsuki. Two Evas or we're dead."

"Yashima will just have to be modified."

"It can't be. Katsuragi got it right the first time. I've run simulations."

"What? Why did you do that?"

"Contingencies," Gendo said simply.

"What about Rei? You said she was _crying_?"

"Yes. I was in error to alter her medication so early in the scenario."

"Akagi said there wouldn't be any meaningful change."

Gendo snorted. "Doctor Akagi isn't above bending the truth when it comes to Rei. Such an irrational woman for a scientist."

"You're the one who's screwing her, Ikari."

"I never said she wasn't fun. Still," he mused, studying at the Section-2 reports on Shinji spread out before him, "we may still have an opportunity to manipulate events back in our favor."

Now Kozo snorted. "More tough love? I almost laughed at that show you put on during the battle with the Third Angel."

"It worked, didn't it?"

"At least until Shinji called you out on it."

Gendo drank deeply. As the last of his glass's content burned its way down his throat he considered the photos on his desk. They were stills of the video surveillance Gendo had installed throughout Katsuragi's apartment during the "New Year's Bonus" renovations he had gifted her for taking in the pilots. The cameras and microphones were nigh-undetectable and the information they provided was priceless.

Such as the photos of Shinji when he caught the First on his way to the shower.

"I have a back-up plan for keeping the Third here as a pilot," he said, his lip curling, "but it is… distasteful."

Gendo knew his friend well enough to see that he was biting his tongue on some snide comment. "I _do_ have limits, Fuyutsuki. I'm merely willing to transgress them if such actions will produce meaningful results."

The phone on his desk began to ring. It was Doctor Akagi, no doubt calling with news of her special assignment. Not in the mood to deal with his lover, Gendo glared at his friend to answer the phone. Kozo did so. The one half of the conversation Gendo could listen in on made Fuyutsuki seem like he was having an extended senior moment. "I see. Yes. I agree. Certainly. Why? Yes. Good work." The Vice-Commander set the phone back down in its cradle.

"Good news, I trust?"

"Akagi just confirmed completion of the A17. We've captured the 5th Angel."

* * *

# # # END

* * *

_**Author's Notes:**__God, this chapter took FOREVER to write. I just blanked out when it came time to write the post-dinner conversations. I actually ended up writing several chapters of a Harry Potter fanfic in the last half month while I tried to work through my writer's block on this chapter. I'm still not entirely happy with the balcony scene but I doubt another rewrite will solve my problems with it. I hope it wasn't too shitty. Anyways, it's better to push on to the next chapter._

_This chapter and the next one form a two-parter that will bring an end to the introductory arc of this fanfic. We'll be taking a one chapter breather to take on the Jet Alone episode before the next arc starts with the arrival of Asuka in Japan. _

_It always struck me as very telling that Gendo only ever praised Shinji over an audio-only link from a ship thousands of miles away in Antarctica. Maybe he suspected that Shinji wouldn't buy his load of lumber in a face-to-face meet._

_And, hey, is this ending up a SxR fic? Wasn't I setting up a SxH thing two chapters ago? And weren't there hints of SxA in that phone call last chapter? Okay, I'll tell you, but if you don't want to be spoiled stop reading._

_Ready?_

_Four-way harem: ShinjixReixAsukaxHikari. I dub it "Shireiasuhiki"._

_I did say that everyone's going to get screwed, didn't I?_ :)

_But seriously, I do have an ending to everything in mind – I already wrote it. _

**NEXT CHAPTER: Angst, Angst, and Laser Cannons  
**


	9. His and Her Circumstances

Gendo studied the small red sphere contained within the dura-bakelite. It was little bigger than a grain of sand, visible only from the imperfection it caused in the light refracting through the rich, translucent brown of its imprisoning material. Fuyutsuki was busy pouring over the data analysis with Akagi and her assistant. Gendo ignored them. There would be time for that later. His interest lay only with NERV's new pet. It wasn't often one had the chance to see an embryonic Angel.

"Hello there, Ireul," he whispered softly, his tone only slightly mocking.

A simple manipulation of events had allowed Gendo and Kozo to trick Doctor Akagi into discovering the unborn Angel's minute chrysalis during a 'random' scan of the under-construction Pribnow Box's 87th Protein Wall. One quiet sweep later – allegedly to correct flaws in the wall's construction – and NERV had its second captive Angel.

"Commander?" It was Akagi's aide, Lt. Ibuki. "We're ready to begin our next round of tests."

He stepped away from the bakelite brick. "Of course. Keep me informed of the results." He paused. "I shouldn't have to remind you of the security of this operation."

"N-no, sir," she said, slowly wilting under his gaze but not crumbling. _Akagi picked this one well. I must remember to compliment her tonight._

The Doctor in question strode over with Fuyutsuki at her side. "The AT-Field Neutralization Zone has checked the Fifth Angel's energy reactions. However, if the information in the Scrolls is accurate, we need to prepare alternative control systems for when Ireul begins to evolve." She handed him a data pad. Gendo would read it later. He didn't bother checking its validity. Nobody at NERV would risk bullshitting him on official business. "We'll have the complete genome of _Homo angelic ireul _cracked within five days. All the other analysis – especially regarding the S2 organ – will doubtlessly take longer. With no frame of reference I can't give you a timeline for our research."

"Very well." Gendo adjusted his glasses. "Captain Katsuragi will be brought onboard later. For now, this project stays with the four people in this room."

Akagi nodded. "I've secured the MAGI. No information will be leaked to the Committee about the 5th Angel."

"Doctor," started Kozo, playing his role as the ever-cautious henchmen to the letter, "it would be best to repeal the numerical designation of Ireul. It would not do to accidentally conflate two '5th' Angels in a heated moment on the Command Deck."

Akagi and her aide agreed. The Commanders left them to their work.

"This should set the old men behind schedule several months," mused the Professor, hitting the elevator button for Central Dogma. "Without a viable sample they won't have a basis for comparison when they study Tabris's S2. We're on an even playing field now."

"We may still need to leak the data to SEELE if the Unit-01 doesn't behave properly with the 14th," cautioned the Commander. "Keel needs to have confidence in the performance of the Mass-Production Series. Otherwise he'll just resort to more conventional forms of mass destruction when the final hour comes."

"N2s and nerve gas or the Eva Series – my, what lovely options. But I see your point. The scenario requires the Mass-Production models to come into play."

"It's not like they'll be a threat to our Evas in any case."

"True," conceded Fuyutsuki. "Especially with Arka."

"Now all we need are the Dummy Plugs, ADAM, and the Lance." Gendo allowed himself a smirk. After the day he had had it why not unwind by indulging a little in the old habits? "There's nothing quite like a plan coming together to make all seem right with the world."

* * *

# # # presenting # # #

* * *

**TAKING SIGHTS**

**Chapter 08 – His and Her Circumstances**

**Written by: Lavanya Six**

**(please don't sue)**

* * *

# # # another installment in a continuing series # # #

* * *

.

**(FRIDAY)**

.

* * *

It was 4 A.M.

Shinji Ikari, dressed in his school uniform, slipped out from under his bedcovers. Moving carefully in the dark he retrieved a duffle bag stashed under his desk. Shinji didn't dare risk turning on his bedroom light. That might attract attention. From out of his pocket he drew a small envelope addressed to his guardian. He placed it on his desk.

Shinji slid open his door slowly, mindful of the grinding of the wood frame along its track. Each little scrap boomed in the nighttime darkness, causing him to fret. When that momentous task was done the Third Child tiptoed down the hall towards the kitchen. Going through there would cause the least amount of floorboard squeaking.

He paused at the kitchen doorway. It wouldn't do to walk into Pen-Pen on one of his nighttime stroll. _Wait. _

Sniff. Sniff.

_What's that smell?_

Before he could determine that, the kitchen lights flared to life. Shinji threw up his free hand to shield his eyes from the glare. Once his vision adjusted his shoulders drooped at the sight before him: Misato, standing at the far light switch, holding a coffee cup.

"Hi there," said the woman, cradling the coffee mug in her hands for warmth. "Going someplace?"

"Y-yes," he replied quickly, going with the first excuse that came to mind. "I wanted to take a walk. To clear my head."

Misato's eyes drifted down to the duffle bag at Shinji's side. "Must be one long walk you're planning."

The Third Child hung his head in shame. "M-Misato… look, I don't want to stay here. I can't."

"Because of your father?"

"..."

"Will you go back to live with your uncle?"

"Yeah."

"I see." Misato paused to sip her coffee. "You need to get your hand looked at before you skip town. It's looking a little… purple."

* * *

The NERV Hospital doctor treating Shinji glared at Misato. "You treated broken fingers with a bag of frozen peas?"

"They're not broken," she replied. "You said so yourself."

"_You_ didn't know that. You should have brought him here immediately. I'll have to report this."

"Fine. Why not tell me now? You'd have to send it to me. Or, if you prefer, you can take it up with my superior."

"Well, _Captain_, I'm sure the _Commander_ will be eager to hear about your careful guardianship of his son." Shinji shivered. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," said the Third Child. "My father already knows."

The doctor still glared at Misato. "I'm still reporting this."

"Whatever."

He turned back to his patient. "The swelling will go down in a few days. Try not to pick any more fights with sliding door windows."

The teen said nothing.

As they were walking back to Misato's car, the twentysomething said, "Shinji, can I ask you something?"

"..."

"Do you like waffles?"

* * *

Soon Shinji found himself sitting across from his guardian at an IHOP, which was apparently some sort of Western food chain.

Shinji's gaze drifted around the restaurant. It seemed unusually crowded for being before dawn. There were a handful of rough-looking characters scattered throughout the place as well as a cluster of college-aged men and women having a boisterous conversation in the back corner. When he looked back towards Misato he found his guardian deeply involved with selecting her meal. "I didn't know you ate Western food for breakfast."

"I got a taste for the stuff when I lived in Germany; this place isn't great but it's cheap and nearby." Misato paged through the colorful menu. "I worked my first assignment there at GEHIRN's Berlin base – the Third Branch."

Shinji frowned. "GEHIRN?"

"Hmm? _Oh_. Right. You wouldn't know that." She flipped to the heart healthy eating portion of the menu, then flipped away. "GEHIRN was the precursor to NERV. They were a research organization founded after the Second Impact. Back in, oh, 2010 they dissolved GEHIRN and reformed under it a new military mandate into NERV."

"Oh."

"I was the guardian of another Eva pilot in Germany; the Second Child. You haven't met her yet but she'll be coming to Tokyo-3 soon."

"Asuka, right?"

Misato lowered her menu. "Yeah. How did y-"

"She called the other day," he explained. "She called collect, actually."

"Why?"

"She wanted to give me advice on how to fight. She said I messed up the fight with the Third Angel and should have gotten killed for my mistakes." He sighed. "She's right."

His guardian swore softly under her breath. "Look, you've never dealt with Asuka before, but let me tell you that she's a braggart. I mean, she's a nice girl, but she has to feel that she's the best at everything she does, and nothing's more important to her than piloting Eva."

"Misato," he began, staring into his untouched glass of water, "if the 3rd Angel had attacked my Eva when I had been knocked unconscious would it have killed me?"

"..."

Shinji shook his head. "I don't know why I came here anymore," he confessed. "I'm not a solider. I'm just a child. I'm weak. I don't belong in the Eva," he whispered mostly to himself.

"With that attitude? No, you don't."

Shinji looked up to find Misato glaring at him. "W-what?"

She set her menu aside. "Your life sucks. I'm sorry. Really, I am. You've gotten the crap beaten out of you in ways that most people never have to experience. And I also know what it's like to be mixed up inside about how you feel about your father."

He snorted. "I know exactly what I feel about him."

"You hate him," she said.

"I didn't say that, Misato. I don't hate him."

"But at the same time you still want to love him."

Now Shinji glared at her. "My father… he's… _not_ a good person."

"You're father's a sonuvabitch, kid. So was mine. That doesn't mean either of them's evil." She pulled out a white cross necklace from under her blouse. "See this? My father bought it for me back in mid-2000 as an apology for taking me with him on one of his research expeditions to Antarctica – I was still religious back then. See, I didn't want to go but he didn't care. He just wanted to score points against my mother. They'd just divorced and he wanted to piss her off by taking me away."

He frowned. "Antarctica? In 2000?"

"Yes – the Katsuragi Expedition. Sound familiar? It was in that security briefing we gave you when you first showed up."

"Wait… you mean you were _there_? But that's impossible! The Second Impact would have killed y-"

"It's complicated," she explained. "Ritsuko could lay out the technobabble for you but essentially I was in the eye of the storm, so to speak. I was the only survivor from the camp. Right before… before the First Angel blew... up my father carried me to one of the escape pods. He did it at the cost of his own life." She sipped her coffee. "The shockwave carried me out into the new Antarctic Sea. An Aussie sub picked me up three days later.

"I'm not sure how I feel about him. I still hate him because of who he was, but he still did a noble thing in the end." Misato tucked the cross back under her shirt. "You're father's still a human being, regardless of what he said last night."

"So you're taking _his_ side."

"I'm taking the side of defeating the Angels," she said evenly. "If you aren't going to apply yourself to piloting Eva, if you aren't happy doing it, then you _shouldn't be piloting_. Going out onto the battlefield with your current attitude will make you a danger to yourself and to others."

Shinji shook his head in dismay. "He's a liar. Why don't you see that?"

"Look," snapped Misato, "since you won't get off it, why not ask Rei about why your father wears gloves all the time. Ask her about the burns."

"Burns?"

Before Misato could elaborate an obese waitress came over to take their orders.

"I'll have blueberry stack with a side of eggs, sunny side up." Misato handed over her menu." "Try the Belgian waffles with strawberry syrup," she said to Shinji, her tone more conciliatory. "They're very good."

"Uh, yeah. I'll take that."

After the waitress left Misato turned back to the Third Child, "I'm going to make you a deal, Shinji. Stay here for five more days. Just five. Think things over. Decide what you really want. After that Rei will be fit to synch with either Unit-00 or Unit-01. Once she's cleared for combat duty – if you still want to leave – I'll drive you to the train station myself. Does that sound fair?"

"…fine," he said at last. "But I'm not changing my mind. I don't want anything to do with my father. Not anymore. Not _ever._"

She shrugged. "Works for me."

* * *

"This isn't working."

"Sempai?"

"We finally get an S2 sample and the damn thing barely registers on our scanners." Doctor Akagi glared at the nest of sensor readouts surrounding her workstation. "This thing should be pumping out more power than a dozen nuclear reactors and instead it's asleep. Or unborn."

"But if it wakes up then-"

"-we'd have something to report to the Commander, wouldn't we? Assuming we made it out of the room before it gases us or pulps us or fries us." She sighed. "We don't have the proper equipment – and we can't get what we'll need easily. The Third Branch was supposed to be doing the S2 research."

Maya dithered. "S-sempai?"

"Hmm?"

"If this is so dangerous, why are we keeping this secret?"

"The Commander has his reasons," she said.

"But the Oversight Comm-"

"Aren't to be trusted." Ritsuko turned and locked sights with her assistant. "Don't repeat that to anyone. Understand? I shouldn't have told you that."

"Yes, Sempai."

"I'm serious, Maya."

The younger woman's resolve hardened under her mentor's gaze. "I understand." Maya glanced at the dura-bakelite brick in the Isolation Chamber. "So what will you do, ma'am?"

Ritsuko nodded, satisfied. She looked back at the monitors and sighed. "Every problem has a solution, Maya. I'll think of something. The only thing we're short of is time." _The Commander is a patient man but not eternally so. _"I'll need you to step up to the plate, Maya. This project will be taking up a lot of our time."

"I'll do whatever I can to help you, Sempai."

"Thanks. I don't know what I'd do without you." The blonde missed her assistant's blush. "The MAGI are just going to crunch this data for the rest of today. We might as well make ourselves useful and start prepping the secondary Dummy Plug Plant for the Mk.2's production."

"Have the new… cores… stabilized?"

Ritsuko nodded. "The hybridization was relatively easy with the existing template on file; even accounting for the substitution of the _homo angelic lilith _DNA." She stood up. "I have to admit, the Vice-Commander's proposition was very insightful. I don't think it would have occurred to me otherwise. Then again, he would be the expert on the subject."

"It's a good thing we caught the Angel when we did," Maya said, changing the subject to something that didn't make her feel quite so dirty. "If Ireul had gone active in the Pribnow Box we would have had to rip out the whole test chamber. It would have set back the project by weeks… months even."

The blonde chuckled. "I guess we have an Angel watching out for us."

* * *

Rei Ayanami had woken at precisely 6:30am just as she always did. Her cell phone rang at 6:31am. The Commander spoke briefly, ordering her to come to his office but saying nothing else. Now, standing before him and the Vice-Commander, the First Child prepared herself for in the inevitable.

She was going to be replaced.

"Rei," said the Commander flatly, "you know why you're here."

"Yes."

"Why is that?"

"I presented emotional instability last night."

"Yes. Why?"

That was a question Rei did not want to answer, though she had been expecting it ever since the Commander had seen her outburst the night previous. To answer truthfully could give the Commander the impression she was disloyal. Rei was well aware that she was not articulate in matters of personal expression. Attempting to explain ideas, thoughts, and feelings that even she could not put a name to… would the Commander understand?

Yet _to lie_… to _him_… could she?

"Rei," declared the Commander, "you will account for yourself."

"I… I am unsure how to accurately explain, sir."

"Try."

"I did not know what to do following your revision of my purpose. I did not… I do not… know what to say or to feel."

"I see."

Rei frowned. No, she had not made her sentiments clear. "There is another factor, sir. It relates to my purpose."

The Commander said nothing. After a few seconds Rei decided that he was waiting for her to continue. She struggled for the right words, the way to delineate her confused thought process as clearly as she could. She failed. Instead, Rei decided to risk the appearance of disloyalty. It was a minor gamble, she thought, considering that she was to be replaced anyway.

"Why will you not allow me to die?"

"…_what?_"

The outrage in the Commander's tone was like a slap across her face. "Sir, I intend no dis-"

"What do you mean I won't allow you to die? _Why_ do you want to die?"

"I… I…"

"Well?"

The Vice-Commander cleared his throat. "Perhaps if we gave her a moment to collect her thoughts and t-"

"Quiet," snapped the Commander, never taking his unblinking eyes off Rei. "Answer the question."

So she did, haltingly, with many starts and stops. Like a student cowering before an enraged Socrates she built and elaborated on her confused answers to her master's questions. She explained as best she could about her feeling of incompleteness and her desire to return to nothingness, how the release of death and the cessation of identity held appeal to her, how everyone she met was cold to her because of her appearance and her inability to understand them, and how she lived in the world yet was not as part of it. All the while as she spoke Rei felt the rise of panic and emotion in her voice, overwhelming her just as it had when the Commander had disregarded her original purpose or when Captain Katsuragi had innocently reminded her that she had "years and years" of life… empty, purposeless life… awaiting her after the Angels were defeated.

By the end of the interrogation any other person would have been reduced to a quivering wreck on the floor after they had autopsied their own heart and soul. Rei Ayanami merely sobbed quietly, her gaze fixed firmly downwards.

The Commander's Office was perfectly silent. Rei couldn't bring herself to look up. Perhaps the Commander would be merciful and kill her current body here and now, one gunshot ending the agony. That idea pleased Rei. It would be for the best. The Third would wake up with no memory of anything since just before the Unit-00 Incident.

Perhaps the Commander would let the Third keep her purpose.

"Rei," he said softly.

_He wants me to face my death. Very well._ "Y-yes?" she looked up.

There was no gun, no weapon of any sort. Commander Ikari was watching her with a reserved expression, that special blank mask he used so rarely that Rei didn't know how to read him when he wore it. The Vice-Commander had his back turned to both of them. His head was bowed.

"Rei," he said, "I am ordering you not to kill yourself through any action or inaction."

She stared at him.

"Acknowledge my order."

"I am not to kill myself through any action or inaction."

"I am ordering you not to harm yourself. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"These orders can only be overridden by me. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"I am ordering you not to discuss this matter with anyone outside of this room. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Do you acknowledge these four orders?"

"Yes, sir."

The Commander stared at her as if lost in thought. "Rei… leave us. I will call for you again at a later date to further discuss your… your wishes."

"I… I may _leave_?"

Alive?

This did not make sense.

"Yes," he said, a small frown breaking through his mask. "Return to Captain Katsuragi's immediately and proceed as you will, bearing my orders in mind." He paused. "Go to a lavatory and clean yourself up first."

Taking solace in her new orders, Rei Ayanami turned and exited the Commander's Office.

* * *

Hikari Horaki set the bowls down in front of her sisters. It was simple breakfast fare, natto on rice. Neither Nozomi nor Kodama ever asked for anything else for breakfast, or for any other meal. Their sister Hikari ruled the domestic sphere of the household with an iron fist that echoed her Class Rep persona. Whatever she put on the table the rest of the Horakis ate without complaint. This obedience didn't mean that her sisters never needled Hikari about her attitude.

"Sis," said Kodama, filling in her daily Sudoku with pen, "you're going to make some bottom very happy one day."

"Huh?" asked Nozomi, confused.

Hikari leveled a glare at her older sister. "Yes, please explain it to Nozomi."

The college student turned to the little girl. "Well, you see, when two people love each other and one of them likes to give orders – the top – and the other one likes to take orders – the bottom – they agree t-"

_"Kodama!"_

"Geez, sis. I'm just doing like you asked."

The little girl's eyes widened. "Ohhhhhhh! I get it! Hikari's the top and we're the bottoms!"

"Nah. We don't like taking orders, if you catch my drift."

"Huh?"

_"Kodama!!" _

"Just yanking your chain," the elder sister waved away her younger sister's anger. "So how's school? Classes going well? Asked out Shinji the Hero yet?"

Hikari went about emptying her bowl. "No, and I'm not going to ask him out."

"Why not? He's cute for a kid, and Nozomi hit it off pretty well with him."

"We made shadow puppets!" explained the little girl.

"I don't like him that way! Really, I just met him a few weeks ago."

"Uh-huh. Right. And I'm sure you made that extra bento box just for your _good friend_ Shinji."

Hikari blushed. "He doesn't have a lot of free time with his job at NERV. I'm just trying to thank him for piloting that robot for us. And I made a box for Rei Ayanami too!"

Nozomi looked up from her ravished rice bowl. "Wait. You're going ask Rei Ayanami out too?"

Kodama sniggered and threw up her hands as Hikari glared at her. "She said it, not me."

"Look," snapped the middle Horaki girl, her tone edging into "Class Rep" mode, "I just think he could use a friend. That's all there is to it. He's under a lot of stress."

"…really?" Kodama squinted at her younger sister. "You know something, don't you?"

"I know he misses a lot of school. Him and Ayanami."

"No. No, that's not it. Did Shinji tell you something about his job? Or was it Dad?"

Hikari glanced at the seemingly oblivious Nozomi, then back at Kodama.

"Never mind," said the eldest girl, catching Hikari's drift. "Still, you could do worse for a friend. Frankly, you need to spend more time around boys. I'm starting to wonder about you, Hikari."

"Gee, thanks."

* * *

Alone, the two men stared off into the distance for a long while, watching the first rays of the filtered sunlight stream down via optical cables into the Geo-Front. It was a spectacular if somewhat artificial morning. One could almost forget that the verdant greens of all the forests that surrounded the pyramid the Commander's Office sat atop weren't some garden as fake as those surrounding Versailles.

Kozo Fuyutsuki sighed as a pigeon flew by the window. Somehow the damn things always managed to sneak down into the Geo-Front.

"I'm a terrible father," Gendo Ikari said.

"You've been the best father you can be to him," the older man cautioned.

Ikari glowered. "I wasn't talking about the boy."

"…look, barely a month ago you were treating _her_ like a machine that could be replaced on a whim. I'll admit I was shocked about what she confessed but this development isn't exactly confounding."

Gendo rubbed his forehead with a gloved hand, stress and lack of sleep contributing to a growing headache. "I haven't done that well in the last month either." Another bird swooped past the window. "The closest thing to a daughter I have in this world and she's turned into a suicidal nihilist. I probably should have expected that, all things considered."

"She was willing to destroy her own soul to reunite you with Yui. What else would you expect her motivation to be?"

"Loyalty," he said. "Love."

Kozo shook his head, amused. "Will she obey your orders?"

"Most certainly." He paused. "Well, as certain as I can be about Rei anymore."

"You know when you babbled about how your ten years of brilliant planning for Instrumentality had caged you in your own mousetrap? Honestly, I thought you were stroking your own ego. But now? I actually feel impressed."

"Why thank you, Professor." Gendo adjusted his glasses. "I'm so glad to know that one of us is enjoying this clusterfuck."

"Speaking of fornication, am I correct in surmising that you aren't going to play matchmaker with the Children?"

"And put our only two pilots – both clearly emotionally unstable – into a potentially explosive romantic relationship? No. Rei's already on the edge, rejection by Shinji might push her off it." He sighed. "I really shouldn't plan major gambits when I'm drunk."

"Well, it's probably for the best. Honestly I don't think the two of them could do anything immoral with each other even if we gave them a private room, a copy of the Karma Sutra, and a signed permission slip."

"Quite possibly." Gendo turned aside in thought as an idea occurred to him. "Perhaps it would be more efficient to hire them some whores to bang."

"W-what?" Kozo's expression soured from shock to disdain. "Now's not the time to crack jokes, Ikari!"

"Who said I was joking, Professor?" He smiled.

The Vice-Commander snorted. "And Shinji? If you don't use your honeypot, what will keep him piloting?"

Gendo's sly smile faded. "We'll wait and see, won't we?"

A pigeon smacked into the window, startling both men.

"Damn rats with wings!" swore Fuyutsuki.

"Indeed."

* * *

Hikari Horaki crept onto the school's roof, careful not to alert Shinji to her presence. The introverted boy hadn't spoken a word to her all day and from the vibes he had been radiating it had been clear to everyone in Classroom 2-A that he did NOT want to talk with anyone. Even Aida had gotten the hint to leave Shinji alone. The fact his right hand was swollen and purple – clearly an injury from some violent act according to the rumor mongering of Suzahara and some of the other boys – probably had something to do with people leaving him alone.

Even Ayanami had been silent on the matter. In fact, she had seemed more withdrawn and quiet than normal. Somehow that unsettled the Class Rep more than anything.

But Hikari _had_ to talk with him. Something must have happened at dinner with his father. It was her duty as the Class Representative to watch out for him.

_And there he is._

Shinji was stretched out down the way on the rooftop. His bento box lunch was unopened next to him. In its place he was consuming music on that SDAT player he carried with him everywhere.

Gathering her nerve, Hikari walked forward. Shinji didn't acknowledge her presence as she approached. He just stared at the cloudy blue sky. Even when she stood right next to him, her shadow falling across his chest, he still didn't look at her.

"Shinji?"

"..."

"Shinji, are you okay?" She glanced at the swollen hand loosely clutching his SDAT player. "Did… did something happen last night at dinner?"

Nothing. No response.

"Did your father do somet-"

The boy's blue eyes darted over and locked onto hers. Normally they were tired-looking eyes, ones that seemed too old for a high schooler. Now… now there was something else in them. Despite her personal standards for politeness, Hikari shivered.

"What did you father do?"

He just stared at her. He said nothing.

"H-how did you hurt your hand?"

"..."

"Shinji! Please! Talk to me! I'm your friend!"

"..."

"Aren't I?"

He looked away from her, turning his gaze back to the blue sky above. In a flat, emotionless voice that seemed to leap from Ayanami's throat he said, "I'd like to be left alone, thank you."

"I… Shinji…." Hikari turned away, not wanting him to see her eyes moisten. "Okay. I'll leave you alone." She took a half-step away, then paused. "But," she said, still unable to look back, "if you do… I'm here."

"..."

She walked away.

* * *

.

**(MONDAY)**

.

* * *

Ritsuko Akagi eyed her wary looking friend. "You okay? I know it's a lot to take in." The two had just returned from Terminal Dogma where the Vice-Commander had shown Misato NERV's latest test subject in Lab 333. Ritsuko had followed with a briefing on some of NERV's less well known activities that were in the production pipeline – minus certain uncomfortable facts about them. Now, taking a breather in Akagi's office, the blonde was covertly shaking down her friend for her reaction to the day's revelations.

"Ritsu, it's more than a lot to take in." Misato tipped back her cup of coffee, wishing desperately it was a beer. "An Angel successfully infiltrated NERV HQ."

"We caught it."

"It still made it through the door. God, an Angel the size of a grain of sand. The first four were giants and now this…."

"It's a lot to take in."

"And the Committee!" Misato studied her carefully. "I understand the need for secrecy, but why exactly are we keeping something this big from them? You know something."

_I'm not sure what I know about anything anymore. _"I don't have all the facts, Misato, but I do know that Commander Ikari feels we can't trust them. They have their own agenda and it isn't for the good of all mankind."

"I need more to go on than that, Ritsuko. What we're doing is at least criminal, if not borderline treason."

"The Commanders have their reasons. Besides, they wouldn't have told us this much if they weren't going to bring us into the fold later on."

That seemed to soothe Misato, at least for the moment. "Damn it."

"So… what's the situation with Shinji? Will he stay?"

Misato thought glumly of the apathetic boy who moped around her apartment. Ever since that dinner party he had turned inward, cutting off all contact with those around him. He had made no move to run away yet so at least he was sticking to his promise to her.

"No idea," she said, putting her best spin on the truth.

"Has he… has he talked with _him _since that night?"

"No. Not to my knowledge. Shinji won't even stay in the same room with me when I bring up his father. I can't help but notice that the Commander seems to be avoiding Shinji here at NERV too. It's nothing overt, but there's a clear pattern."

Ritsuko shook her head knowingly. "Hedgehogs," she sighed.

"Tell me about it."

"What about Rei?" Ritsuko tapped the ashes from the tip of her cigarette onto her desk's overflowing ashtray. The tired blonde didn't bother covering for her usual clinical attitude. They were talking about the _her _now. "Has she demonstrated any more instability?"

"No. She's actually been normal. Well, normal for Rei."

"Well, at least there's that going for us."

"Still, I'd rather not have a functional Eva gathering dust."

"Unit-00 is very, very unlikely to synch with another pilot. It's taken Rei Ayanami seven months just to get this far with it. The prototype unit is just too… quirky, for a lack of a better word. And yes, I realize how unscientific that sounds, but I really don't want to get out my whiteboard and spend the next three days explaining basic and intermediary principals of Evangelion production to you."

"And I don't want to listen. How long did you say until that autopilot system is operational?"

"Two months, assuming there are no difficulties." The scientist deflected the unasked follow-up question. "And no, I can't rush it. Do _you_ want an unstable Dummy Plug operating Unit-00?"

"I don't like the idea at all, frankly." Misato amused herself by counting the cigarette stubs in Risuko's ashtray:_ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7…_ "You made it out to sound like a rabid dog."

"It's meant to be used in coordinated attacks with other Dummy Plug-controlled Eva Units. Ideally, we'll be able to get the Children off the battlefield and out of harm's way." _Away from harm on both sides. "_Are you opposed to protecting the kids, Misato?"

…_19, 20, 21…is that a corn chip? _"Don't bullshit me, Ritsu. I want to shield them just as much as you do." She sipped her coffee. "I'm just wondering how one of the Dummy Plug supercomputer AIs is supposed to generate an AT-Field. Or is that a technical flaw you'll work out in beta?"

Doctor Akagi frowned. "No," she said after a moment's pause. "Only a living being – one of the Children – can cause an Eva to generate an AT-Field."

"Then pardon me for asking this… because, obviously, I'm just the slutty moron who skipped a week of exams to screw her boyfriend… but what's the damn point of the Dummy Plug if it can't make the Eva generate an AT-Field? We might as well just buy half a dozen of those Jet Alone monstrosities, send them at the next Angel, and kiss our asses goodbye. It'd be faster."

"You know, Misato, you can be a real bitch when life doesn't go your way. It's not my fault Shinji is le-"

"Don't change the subject." She narrowed her eyes. "An autopilot system, an A17, and now there's some sort of secret anti-AT Field weapon, isn't there? Another secret NERV is keeping from me. I wonder what else there is going on around here that I don't have an inkling about…"

"You know what you need to know for now, _Captain Katsuragi_."

"Well, _Doctor Akagi_, how I am supposed to do my job when I don't even know what tools NERV has at its disposal? Or are the Commanders just going to keep running my department for me?"

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Now you're just being paranoid," she said, punctuating her sentence by snorting smoke like some lazy dragon.

"Am I? Then explain why Commander Ikari stepped in during the 3rd Angel battle to order Shinji around. Explain why he counter-ordered me to train Shinji in sniper attacks instead of a broad-based combat education like I originally ordered. Explain why the Commander is rewriting my department's SOP on how weapons are deployed in the field."

Ritsuko frowned at the end of the tirade. "Fine… I'll admit it does sound a little strange when you put it like that… but that's all explainable."

"Yeah, it is, on a case-by-case basis… but together? Doesn't it strike you as a little odd?"

Actually, a pattern did catch Ritsuko's attention, though not the one her friend was obsessing over. "Maybe they're expecting more from you than you're delivering."

"Damn it," swore Misato. "I've spent years preparing for this war! I'm ready for this! I didn't come here to be used as a rubber stamp!"

"So stand up and deliver." Ritsuko stabbed her latest cigarette into the mound on her desk's ashtray. "Now if you'll excuse me I need to unlock the secrets of the universe."

"Bitch," she said more-or-less casually, flipping off her friend as she left the office.

Ritsuko didn't return the affectionate gesture, instead drawing her mind to the puzzle pieces laid out by Misato and the seemingly fortuitous circumstances of the last few days. _Something strange _is_ going on_, she thought to herself, _but what does it all add up to?_

* * *

.

**(TUESDAY)**

.

* * *

"Ayanami?"

The First Child looked up from the textbook she had been reading. Behind her, standing in the doorway to her bedroom, was the Third Child.

"Yes, Ikari?"

"Um, well, I wanted to ask you something."

The First Child waited.

"My father… Misato said to ask you why he wears gloves. What did she mean?"

Unnoticed by the Third Child, Rei's eyes were drawn to the small glasses case on her bedroom desk. Nestled safely in the corner where the desk abutted two converging walls of her room, the case was the sole extraneous possession in her entire bedroom.

"Captain Katsuragi was referring to the incident with Unit-00 during its activation last month," she explained. "During the course of the Eva's rampage the Entry Plug was superheated and forcibly ejected." The First glanced down at her freshly unbandaged arm. The last of her wrappings had come off the night before. "I was injured. The Commander saved my…" _(body)_ "…life by manually opening the plug and relieving the heat and pressure of the LCL."

The Third Child said nothing.

"The Commander wears gloves due to the severe burns on his hands."

"…Rei?" asked the Third Child, his voice hushed. "I have another question."

She waited.

"What sort of man is my father?"

Rei, having devoted a great deal of time in the past few days to that and several other questions, answered immediately. "I do not know."

"Y-you have to know."

Here, at last, Rei twisted around in her seat to face her fellow pilot. Shinji stood in the doorway to darkened hallway, the sickly light from Rei's bedroom light casting his features into sullen relief. "Why?"

"Because," he said, blinking heavily as his rate of breath increased, "he… he treats you…."

Shinji Ikari stopped.

"Never mind, okay? Just forget it. Goodnight, Rei." He slid her door shut.

The First Child returned to her studying.

* * *

.

**(WEDNESDAY)**

.

* * *

Gendo Ikari surreptitiously glanced around the repaired Experiment Station-2. Fuyutsuki and Dr. Akagi had taken their normal observation posts. The technicians were all manning their respective stations. The cycloptic orange-armored Unit-00 stared back at him through the replacement glass. If not for the presence of Captain Katsuragi he would have sworn he was reliving that day again.

Again.

"Rei," he said over the intercom, "can you hear me?"

"Yes."

"We will now begin the Unit-00 Re-activation Experiment." He released the switch and looked to Dr. Akagi. "Begin the primary connection."

* * *

In Unit-00's Entry Plug, Rei Ayanami found herself drawn to the glasses case resting in her lap. Before she had felt such comfort from that small thing; the glasses inside had been a sterling memento of the first instance in her life when she meant something to someone, that _he_ showed her genuine concern even though she could have been easily replaced.

But now… what did it really mean now? The Commander said she could live as long as she wanted, that her life was her own once the Angels had been destroyed.

Why?

What was the point of a life without purpose?

And why had the Commander changed his purpose?

Was it really possible to do that? To walk away from a decade of toil and struggle? And to what end?

What was the Commander planning now?

And… was there a purpose for her in his new scenario?

"Rei?"

"Yes."

"We will now begin the Unit-00 Re-activation Experiment."

Rei Ayanami pushed away such thoughts. She had her duty now. Besides, there was a chance that this activation test would result in a berserker as well. If that happened… maybe… maybe Rei III would be the one to deal with this problem of an unexpected, unwanted life.

The First Child opened her mind to her Eva.

And in way she couldn't see...

In a manner she only somewhat understood...

On a level that escaped her experience in _this _life...

It smiled back at her.

* * *

"The initial contact has no problems."

"Power has been transmitted up to the brachial muscle in both arms. There are no problems with the nerve links."

"Check. The board is green up to step 2550."

"Begin the third stage connection."

"Up to 2580 satisfied. Approaching absolute borderline: 0.9, 0.7, 0.5, 0.4, 0.3, 0.2, 0.1, and rising! Absolute borderline has been cleared!

"Neural connections stable. Synchronization rate holding steady at 21.3 percent."

_Twelve points down from where it should be_, Gendo thought to himself, _but hardly surprising considering her emotional state_. He noted his frown was copied by Captain Katsuragi, though for a different reason. On the battlefield an Eva below a twenty-five percent synch ratio was little more than a target.

Rei's quiet voice announced over the comlink, "Beginning Interlock tests…."

* * *

Fuyutsuki willed himself not to look at the phone. It was already five minutes past two o'clock. It should have happened by now. Why would it have changed? What could humans do that could possibly affect the gestation of the Angels?

Ikari was being no help, the bastard. He was focused on Rei's tests. How could he be so calm when _he knew_ Yui's son was about to be hur-

The phone rang.

"Ikari," he said after listening to the report, "an unidentified object is approaching Tokyo-3. It may be the 5th Angel."

"Interrupt the test," Gendo announced. "All hands go to First Stage Alert."

* * *

The 5th Angel glided serenely towards Tokyo-3, its crystalline body singing a song of perfection.

Unlike Sachiel who saw the world through the lens of earth, water, and sky, Ramiel possessed an eye for meters, degrees, and calculus. The mathematical elegance of its mind would have enraptured Dr. Akagi even as the limits of its scope would break her heart. For all its might, Ramiel lacked ambition beyond itself. ADAM was the Alpha and the Omega, there was nothing else.

And ADAM was close…

* * *

The two Commanders rode a private elevator to Central Dogma.

"I still think we should take a more active role. To waste your foreknowledge of t-"

Gendo cut him off. "We can't continue to interfere with Captain Katsuragi's command. I've already done enough with the 4th Angel. Any further direct action and she could begin to ask difficult questions. It's bad enough we're going to have to tell her about the Lance soon."

"Or the Committee could take notice."

"Yes."

"Ikari, are you really willing to send your son up there? He nearly died the last time around. What if Katsuragi doesn't respond qui-" He cut himself off as the elevator doors opened. Outside, waiting for them, was the usual cloud of Section-2 agents.

"The matter is closed, Vice-Commander," said Gendo.

Central Dogma was professionally sedate. After two Angel attacks the staff had adjusted to the anxiety of battle, Fuyutsuki noted with approval.

"The target is advancing over Lake Ashino airspace."

Onscreen, the octahedron 5th Angel glided towards downtown Tokyo-3. _At least this one looks to deserve the title 'Angel'. _Off to the side on a separate screen a holographic projection of Shinji in Unit-01's Entry Plug showed the anxious boy.

He's be screaming soon as he felt his Eva's flesh melt off.

"Eva Unit One is ready for launch."

_I can't. I can't stand by. _Fuyutsuki opened his mouth. "Cap-"

"Doctor Akagi," said Misato, not hearing the Vice-Commander, "does it strike you as strange that the Angel has no outward means of mêlée attack?"

The blonde scientist looked away from the viewscreen. "We did suspect that the Angels' forms would be varied. However, the lack of mêlée weapon compared to the 3rd and 4th Angels does raise some questions." She turned to her assistant. "Maya, are the MAGI detecting any power fluctuations within the Angel?"

"No, Sempai. The MAGI indicate that the 5th Angel's AT-Field is passive."

"Hmm," mused Misato. "Before we send up the Eva let's do a test. Hyuga, activate Missile Battery 14, fire one rocket only at the target."

"Yes, ma'am."

Fuyutsuki leaned down next to Ikari. "Why is she being cautious?"

"She's doing her job," replied Ikari. "Be thankful you don't have to do it for her."

"This could complicate things."

"You worry too much, professor. Try to enjoy the show. We already know the plot. It's the little differences that make things interesting."

* * *

Topside, a lone rocket was launch from one of Tokyo-3's many missile batteries. The weapon, armed with a payload that could annihilate half a city block, streaked across the sky at the Angel _Ramiel_.

Ramiel spotted the incoming attack almost as soon as it launched. A simple application of math showed that the missile was arcing towards it. Barely diverting a thousandth of its attention to the annoyance the Angel registered the impact and explosion of the thing against its AT-Field.

The attack already forgotten, Ramiel turned its eye back towards the ground and extended its many subtle senses through the layers of metal and earth that separated it from ADAM. Where was the most efficient path to proceed?

Ramiel pondered.

* * *

Hyuga read the obvious results off his workstation. "Missile has impacted. No effect on target. No change in target's AT-Field or power output."

"Do it again, this time with multiple rockets. Attack pattern Delta-Four."

"Aye, ma'am."

"Captain Katsuragi," started Ritsuko, "if you're going to continue to waste our time when we should be launching the Evan-"

Misato silenced her friend. "This is a military matter, Doctor."

"Missiles away," announced Hyuga.

* * *

Ramiel diverted cycles from its analysis of Tokyo-3's subsurface to deal with the Lilium's latest annoyance. Calculations using data extrapolated from the first missile attack quickly confirmed that the incoming barrage wouldn't penetrate its AT-Field. Still, it would be more efficient to deal with the attack now rather than wait for all the missiles to hit it. Ramiel knew it could save 4.333 seconds by destroying the incoming barrage rather than maintaining a defensive posture with its AT-Field. That was 4.333 seconds it could use to find the best route downwards towards ADAM.

Ramiel concentrated.

* * *

"There's a high-energy reaction within the target!" yelled Aoba.

"What?" Ritsuko said in surprise.

"The energy is collecting along the circumference. It's amassing upon itself and converging at p-"

On the main viewscreen, the Central Dogma's staff watched as Ramiel swept a thin arc of burning light around itself, wiping the sky clear of the incoming rockets. A halo of debris and smoke ringed the Angel.

"My God," said Maya, reading off the MAGI's analysis. "That beam would punch right through Unit-01's armor in only twleve seconds. Unit-00 wouldn't stand a chance."

Ritsuko looked to her old friend. "Now what?"

Captain Katsuragi was calm. "Shinji?"

"Y-yes, Misato?"

"We're going to hold off on your sortie. Stand by for further orders."

"Right."

"Sempai! Look!"

Onscreen a thin, pinkish shaft lowered itself from the southernmost point of the Angel's octahedron body.

"Maya," ordered Doctor Akagi, "isolate and magnify that quadrant."

"Yes, ma'am."

The enhanced imaged threw Misato off-balance. Of all the things she expected from the odd Angel this one didn't even make the list. "Is that… _a drill_?"

* * *

Later, in the Commander's Office, after much testing and needless exposition…

"You want to hit the target with a sniper from outside its range of fire, that's what you're saying, Captain?"

Katsuragi nodded. "Yes. A single pinpoint attack with a high-energy beam is the only way to penetrate the target's AT-Field. There's simply no other way."

"What do the MAGI say?"

"The MAGI's response was three affirmatives, sir, with a success probability of 15.6 percent." She paused, waiting for a reaction. When she got none the Captain added, "That's the highest value of any plan feasible within the time limit."

Gendo Ikari set aside his déjà vu and said, "I see no reason to reject your plan, Captain. Proceed at once with Operation…?"

"Mikasa, sir."

Fuyutsuki blinked. "Operation _Mikasa_?"

Misato nodded in the affirmative. "Sir, it refers to the famous battlesh-"

Gendo waved off the history lesson. "That will not be necessary. You are dismissed, Captain."

"_Sir._"

* * *

Ritsuko gestured to the diagram on the HD-display behind her. "The JSSDF's beam cannon operates just like ours. However, given the distance involved you won't be firing in a straight line. You'll need the targeting computer to compensate for the rotation of the Earth, the planet's magnetic field, gravity, and so on in order to make your pin-point hit on the Angel's Core."

Shinji nodded. "Target in the center, pull the switch."

"It won't be that simple," said Ritsuko. "The targeting computer can factor out _known_ variables. However, there is one major _unknown_ variable – the Angel's own particle beam weapon." Onscreen a recording of Ramiel's energy attack played. "The direction, intensity, and curvature of its beam will only be known once it fires. Until it does the targeting computer won't be able to factor a correct firing solution. Shinji, if you fire before the computations are finished then your shot will go wild. If that happens it is highly unlikely you'll survive long enough to make a second strike."

"B-but if I can't fire until it fires-"

"Rei will provide defense." A new diagram sprang up onscreen: Unit-00 baring a large irregular shaped black shield. "After the Angel fires, Unit-00 will use a retrofitted space shuttle heat shield to protect both Evas from the incoming attack. The electromagnetic protective coating on the shield will protect both Evas for seventeen seconds before it reaches critical failure. During those seventeen seconds, Shinji, you'll wait for the targeting computer to factor the Angel's beam attack into its calculations and, once a viable solution has been found, you'll immediately fire."

Misato studied the two pilots. Shinji looked apprehensive. Rei was… Rei.

"Do you both understand your roles in this operation?"

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Do either of you have any questions?"

Shinji did. "Why do we even _have_ a heat shield from a space shuttle on hand?"

"In case we needed one," easily replied Doctor Akagi.

Misato smirked. _Let's show the Commander what I can do. _"Operation Mikasa will commence at Zero-Hundred hours."

* * *

Atop a nearby mountain, two teenagers stared into the brilliant night sky. The Moon was fat and heavy overhead. _It's hard to believe I could be dead soon_, Shinji thought to himself. _And for… what exactly? _

He looked over at his fellow pilot. Rei was calm as ever. While her expression was blank her skin glowed under the moonlight, giving her a vitality that she lacked under the sun. _It's almost like she isn't meant for the day._

"Ikari?"

Shinji was startled to realize Rei was looking at him. He flushed; embarrassed that she had caught him starting at her. Her crimson eyes seemed slightly too bright for the nighttime. "Yes?"

"Before... you asked me what sort of man your father was. I did not know how to answer you then, however, I have since given your question a great deal of thought."

"…and?"

"I still do not know."

"Oh."

"You father's behavior has changed recently. I do not know how to explain it."

"Changed how?"

"He appears to now consider the needs of others before his own."

Shinji snorted. "Maybe for _you_."

"I do not know if the Commander cares for you," she said bluntly, catching him off guard. "However, his actions with regards to me have differed greatly as of late. He now expresses concern for my wellbeing and my future. I do not know why."

"Sounds like a father," he said bitterly.

Rei considered that notion. "Perhaps you are right."

"He's just using you, you know. To pilot Eva."

"If we do not pilot Eva the human race will die."

Shinji found he couldn't argue against that fact. However, he still felt the need to say something. "Don't you care that he's using you? Doesn't it make you _angry_?"

"Piloting Eva is my last remaining purpose. I will do it until I die. I have nothing else."

"I thought you said piloting was your bond with everyone."

"Bonds can be broken." Rei stood. "It is time. Goodbye."

Shinji watched the First Child walk away without giving him a glance backwards. Here they were, about to fight a battle that could lead to one or both of their deaths, and she was as sedate as when he asked her if she wanted ice in her water at dinner. The girl his father treated like family – his own replacement – and she just blankly accepted the possibility of her own death tonight.

What kind of man was his father to raise someone like Rei Ayanami? Was that even a father at all?

"Goodbye, Ayanami," he whispered to the empty platform.

* * *

.

**(THURSDAY)**

.

* * *

"The time is now Zero Hundred hours."

"Commencing operation!"

* * *

The field Command Center erupted in cheers as in the distance Ramiel's flaming corpse crashed to earth. Science technicians and operations officers, commissioned and non-com alike turned to one another and shook hands, hugged, and a few even exchanged some not-so-subtle kisses. Doctor Akagi and Captain Katsuragi were more restrained, sharing only a relieved look with one another.

Misato cupped her hands around her headset's mike, attempting to be heard over the clamor of the mobile command center. "Great work, both of you! It all went to plan!"

"Thank you, Misato," said Shinji, smiling openly.

Rei said nothing, her only reply a slight nod via Unit-00's video feed.

Misato kept the line open for several seconds, letting the applause and cheers of the staff carry on through for the two teens. Finally she said, "The operation is over. Let's bring the Evas back home."

* * *

In a vast, empty office two men listened in on the mobile command center's transmissions. They had tensely followed Operation Mikasa, waiting for the moment when everything would go wrong.

"Thank God," exhaled Fuyutsuki.

Gendo tabbed through a freshly spawned report on his laptop's screen. "That was most satisfactory. The MAGI's preliminary report indicates that over 98 of the 5th Angel's Core was annihilated by the beam strike. Now we only need worry about Sandalphon and Matariel. After them the secrets of the S2 will be ours to reveal to SEELE at the time of our choosing."

"It's almost worse knowing what's coming."

"The Angels aren't what we have to worry about, Professor."

Fuyutsuki couldn't help but chuckle mirthlessly. "Are they ever?"

* * *

Later, once the Evas were docked in their Cages and he and Ayanami had a chance to shower and change into clean clothes, the pilots found themselves face to face with Misato.

"Congratulations to the both of you." She smiled at Rei. "How does it feel, saving the world for the first time?"

"…satisfactory?"

The question in her tone escaped Misato. "How 'bout you, Shinji? Not jealous about Rei muscling in on your hero territory, are you?"

Shinji wasn't in the mood to play along. "Not really."

While on-duty, Misato apparently had the social graces not to frown. _What a strange woman_, Shinji thought to himself. The Captain turned back to the First Child and said more evenly, "Rei, the Commander has requested your presence in his office. We'll wait for you in the E-Level cafeteria for the debriefing."

The girl nodded, then walked off.

The two roommates were left alone with one another.

Misato studied him, her face slipping from 'Captain' into 'Guardian' mode. It was odd how she could so completely change herself like that. "It's been five days. I take it you've made your decision?"

Shinji nodded.

* * *

It was just the two of them. No need for Fuyutsuki to meddle.

Gendo stared at the teen for a long, long time. The pale girl never flinched, never blinked, under his gaze. _She gets that from me_, he thought to himself, allowing himself for a moment to forget that she was not his daughter. "Rei," he said, "I've given a lot of thought to our conversation the other day."

She said nothing though he noted there was a hint of anxiety in her eyes.

"Recently, I've been through a… a traumatic event. Perhaps one day I will be able to explain to you what happened to me. You of all people deserve to know. But not yet. I can, however, tell you what it's led me to conclude.

"I allowed myself to overlook what I had left in favor of what I had lost – a common mistake among humans but one that I pursued to an unfortunate end. I don't apologize for it. If I knew a way that offered at least a minimal chance of success for me to be reunited with Yui I would purse it with my full will. However, now I see no course of action that will reunite Yui and me.

"So I am left to fulfill Yui's wishes: to protect Shinji, to save the human race, and to expose SEELE."

Rei's expression was neutral. "What of NERV and the Evas? What will happen to them if mankind is not to achieve Instrumentality?"

"I have a few ideas," he said, "but nothing you need to know about just yet."

"I see." She paused. "If Instrumentality is a mistake, was my creation also a mistake?"

"Yes." Gendo took off his glasses, folded them, and set them down on his desk. In his vision Rei Ayanami lost her distinction, the edges and finer details of her blurring against the darkness of his office. "But I do not believe you are a mistake without merit… a point we differ on."

"Will... will you allow me to die?"

The Commander set his jaw. "…yes."

The First Child released a held breath.

"Once the war against the Angel has concluded with the death of the 17th Angel _and_ I have made my move against SEELE… then I will allow you to die," he explained; his voice as emotionally dead as hers. "Though 'allow' is a misnomer. You will be a free person, free to make your own decisions. If you wish to commit suicide I will not stop you." He paused. "In fact, I will help you."

Rei's eyes widened in surprise. "You will destroy the Dummy Plug Plant?"

"I'll hold your hair back while you cut your own throat if need be." Gendo picked up his glasses and put them back on. "However," he said, adjusting them, "there are preconditions.

"One: you will consider yourself under my direct order to pilot Eva for the duration of the Angel War. Once again, piloting Eva against the Angels is your primary purpose.

"Two: you will not take any action to jeopardize your current body. If you attempt to subvert our agreement I will not hesitate to order Doctor Akagi to scrub your personality upload of mutinous traits before I decant your next body.

"Three: I am ordering you to spend the next year _living_."

"I do not understand, sir."

Gendo stood up and walked around his desk to Rei. With paternal affection that would have been foreign to Shinji he rested his gloved hands on the girl's shoulders. "No. I wouldn't expect you to understand. That's the problem." He stared into her crimson eyes. "Life is full of pain and suffering, Rei, but if we give up then the pain and suffering meant nothing."

Rei frowned. "Sir?"

"Yes?"

"You described your current scenario as being in line with Yui Ikari's wishes. However, what is my role in your current course of action? She did not know me."

"Rei, what I'm doing for you is what _I_ wish for you."

"Why?"

"Because," he paused, finding even now he had to force himself to say what he felt in his heart, "you are important to me. As… family."

"Like Pilot Ikari?"

Gendo withdrew his hands from her shoulders. "It is similar… but different." He cleared his throat. "Rei, I have a new order for you."

She gifted him with a small smile; content.

* * *

The next day…

_"A linear express for Atsugi is arriving on Track 2. For safety precautions, please, stay behind the yellow line."_

"I guess this goodbye," said Misato.

Shinji nodded. "..."

She gave him a tight smile. "Take care of yourself, Shinji."

Down below, behind the security fence, Nozomi Hikari screamed out, "Commmmme baaaaaaack!" Her older sisters, having already said their farewells to the young boy before he had passed through the security gate, did nothing to stop the little one. Nozomi being resentful would just make things harder when they went home.

Besides, Hikari and Kodama still remembered their mother's passing. They both knew the value of a good cry.

_"The train on Track 2 is a special train, exclusive to government personnel. General passengers are forbidden to board."_

The Third Child boarded the train. He half-turned and gave his former guardian and former fellow pilot one last look. "Goodbye, Miss Misato. Goodbye, Rei.

"I… I just…"

The boy halted, unsure of what to say. Not one to trust his heart the scion of the Ikaris lowered his head, unable to keep eye contact with the two females.

The train doors closed.

The girl and the woman watched the train speed away into the distance until it was lost over a hill. Only then did the pair turn and walk away. As they made their way to Misato's car they avoid the silent trio of Hokaris. Soon enough the train station was devoid of people.

...Except for that one unmarked black sedan with the tinted windows; unlike the other unmarked cars it had not belonged to Section-2. It alone remained to note Shinji Ikari's passing.

It's sole passenger stared at the train station for a long, long time.

"Damn it, Shinji," he whispered to himself.

_Damn me,_ he thought.

Pausing only to adjust his glasses, the driver pulled the sedan out of its parking space and drove off.

The world kept on turning...

* * *

# # # END

* * *

_**Author's Notes: **Honestly, I didn't think he was going to get on that train until I wrote it. Interesting how things change organically from your plot outline. So… remember how I said the Jet Alone chapter would be a break between two arcs? Well, plans have changed. Shinji's tale will wrap up in the next chapter and then we'll be jumping straight into the Asuka-oriented portion of this fanfic._

_I've got some interesting stuff planned for Asuka's arrival. You won't be meeting her quite like you think… but that's in two chapters. The next chapter will be the finale of the "Shinji" arc (chapters 1 to 9). Afterwards we'll start the "Asuka" arc (chapters 10 to 1?). Book One (what we're in now) will be four arcs total, climaxing with Zeruel. As for Book Two… well, that would be telling. _

_I know, I know... Jet Alone? It's the lame episode about Misato that everyone always skips. Well, I figure if you're reading this fic you've probably read other "re-take" fics too. Or any other number of Eva fics that redo Angel battles. How many times do you need to see retakes of the 5th or 14th Angels or the "Asuka VS. Mass-Production Series" fight before you go crazy? It gets pretty paint-by-numbers after a while. You gotta dig deep to make the reader do more than skim them. But Jet Alone? Oh, there's gold to mine in poor, neglected Jet Alone._

_And in this chapter Gendo continues to make mistaken assumptions about people, both with Rei and Misato. The thing to remember is that Gendo didn't come back in time with omnipotent godlike knowledge of what everyone around him did or thought; he just came back knowing what he'd naturally know and what he wants to believe after EoE. To him, Rei II is a loyal soldier/daughter/Yui. He didn't know about Misato's hacking the MAGI (or that she could) and her drive to learn the truth. And Asuka? Well, she was just some little girl who broke under pressure and, being comatose, couldn't put up a fight when the Eva Series showed up to kill her._

_One or two of the reviewers have asked if Mana is going to make an appearance in this story. Originally, no, she wasn't. However an idea has occurred to me about how she might be used in an interesting manner later on. I'm on the fence as to if I'm going to use her... but if she does show up it won't be anything like you expect. And by "later on"... well, in my author's bio I talked about how "Taking Sights" would be a 200k fic. Given that this chapter alone was 10000 words my estimate may have been a tad conservative. Mana will be in the back half, if she shows up at all._

**NEXT CHAPTER: Jet Alone (Wait! Don't fall asleep! It'll rock, I promise!)**


	10. Jetting Alone

**(NOW)**

Gendo listened to the report calmly, his chin resting on laced fingers.

"The stock prices of Nippon Heavy Industry Solidarity are in free-fall and the Jet Alone Project has been publicly disowned by its own creator. The JA should no longer pose a threat to our funding or support," declared Doctor Akagi.

"I see. And Unit-01?"

"The Eva's retrieval has been completed. There's no fear of radioactive contamination." She favored the woman to her right with a sly smile. "All thanks to your heroic actions, Captain."

Misato Katsuragi didn't rise to the bait. "Everything went according to the plan, sir."

"Good work. Both of you."

* * *

# # # presenting # # #

* * *

**TAKING SIGHTS**

**Chapter 09 Jetting Alone **

**Written by: Lavanya Six**

**(please dont sue)**

* * *

# # # another installment in a continuing series # # #

* * *

.

**(TWO WEEKS PRIOR)**

.

* * *

"Narita, Tetsu."

"Here."

"Oshiro, Toshi."

"Here."

"Sakamoto, Kenta."

"Present."

"Watanabe, Yuuki."

"Here."

The teacher set aside the attendance list. "Excellent. Everyone's here. Now please open your textbooks to-"

Hesitantly, a boy somewhere in the middle of the neat rows of seated students raised his hand.

The sensei frowned. "Yes?"

"It's, uh, me," the boy said. "I'm here too."

"Ah. Yes. Mister _Ikari_, wasn't it? I'd heard you'd moved away."

"I came back."

"Mmmm. Yes, well, welcome back." The teacher made a correction to his list. "Now everyone open your textbooks to page..."

* * *

Commander Ikari was studying her, of that much Misato was certain.

She had been in her office, filling out the remaining mounds of paper work from the battle with the 5th Angel, when she had been called upstairs. Unlike the previous two Angel encounters, which had been mostly straight shoot-to-kill affairs, Operation Mikasa had involved tens of thousands of NERV workers and various departments all working in coordination to bring together the necessary parts of the plan in time to stop the 5th Angel's penetration of the Geo-Front. That meant paperwork and lots of it. Dealing with the red tape of NERV commandeering the power supply of all of Japan would be enough to drive Misato to drink which she did, frequently and repeatedly, with no complaints from her remaining ward. Rei Ayanami was very nonjudgmental.

The Commander on the other hand

"Captain," he began, "what can you tell me about the Jet Alone Initiative?"

_Hey, looks like actually bothering to read those intelligence briefings finally paid off. _"It's an experimental anti-Angel weapon system developed by Nippon Heavy Industry Solidarity. The JSSDF has no involvement in the project but they're the obvious eventual buyer. According to our best intelligence reports, it's a remote controlled bipedal mecha roughly on scale with the Evangelion, though it's entirely of a mechanical nature. It's powered by an on-board nuclear reactor of dubious safety. It has no ability to project or to negate an AT-Field."

"It's also costing us a lot of money," added the Vice-Commander.

Commander Ikari explained, "NERV's current supplementary budget proposal is stalled in the Security Council. Many of the less influential nations feel that NERV is asking for more money than we actually require and they have decided to take a stand on _principle_. A bloc has covertly formed around the JA as an alternative to the Evas. What do you think about that?"

"It's short-sighted, sir. We're talking about the survival of the human race. Defeating the Angels should be our first, last, and only priority. The Evas have proven their worth three times now. There's no reason for the JA, especially when they have no way of neutralizing AT-Fields."

Gendo nodded in agreement. "If the upcoming public demonstration of the JA goes well, Nippon Heavy Industry Solidarity can expect to receive major financial investment from several countries of note money that will be diverted from future Evangelion production." The Vice-Commander handed Ikari a slim red folder. Commander Ikari proceeded to toss it towards Misato's side of the desk, where it landed with a soft 'thump' that echoed in the quiet office. "You are to ensure that the demonstration fails spectacularly."

Misato picked her jaw up off the ground. "S-sir?"

"Obviously, this will be a covert assignment. You'll be working hand-in-glove with Doctor Akagi. She has several ideas on the matter. I'll leave the overall arrangements and operational planning up to you. Have a proposal on my desk Thursday morning at 0900 sharp."

She nodded, already gathering her wits. "Yes, sir."

"Dismissed."

Outside, a blas Ritsuko Akagi was waiting for her. The two friends stared at each other. Misato found she was uncertain of what to say. Ritsuko, on the other hand, enjoyed the moment a bit too much.

"Welcome to NERV," she said.

* * *

"Good morning," Rei greeted her tutor.

"Hey there. How's life?"

Rei considered the question. "Long," she replied after a moment, "and ultimately without inherent meaning or purpose."

"Jesus Christ, aren't you a ray of sunshine in the morning?"

"I have reviewed the combat simulations proposed in yesterday's conversation. The relevant data is being forwarded along the secure data linkup."

"Yeah, I've got it right here." The other figure fiddled with the laptop set in front of her. It ran on a combination of NERV proprietary hardware and software that made hacking into the system from the outside extremely difficult. The fact that the MAGI themselves were monitoring the connection almost ruled out outside monitoring of any transmissions. "Your long-range combat scores look to be about what I figured. Your short-range melee is still shoddy, but that's not going to get better with your current synch ratio, Ayanami. You should probably just leave that to me anyways."

"Yes," she replied. "However, Captain Katsuragi has ordered that we are both prepared to fulfill any role required in Angel engagements."

"Yeah, well-"

"Would a well-rounded education in skills and tactics not be required for someone to be considered the 'best' Eva pilot, Soryu?"

Rei Ayanami, waiting for a response, stared at the image of Asuka Langley Soryu. It had only been a few days since the last two remaining Children had started their tutoring sessions. The two communicated over a satellite uplink from NERV HQ to a teleconference room on the _Over the Rainbow_. This video link allowed the teens to trade notes over a variety of piloting-related matters.

The relationship was very much lopsided, partly because the Second Child felt only she had something to teacher, but also because only Rei had access to a battle simulator to play the role of student. Asuka had been placed under strict orders NOT to activate Unit-02 even for minor experimentation with the Entry Plug in order to save battery power should there be an emergency situation. This restriction left the Second Child in the role of teacher, dictating what she knew from memory to her 'ignorant' student. Rei, briefed by the Commander on Asuka's personality, diligently pandered to the Second Child's ego in an effort to build team cohesion.

It was among the most difficult orders Commander Ikari had ever given her.

"I suppose," begrudgingly conceded the Second Child. "But I know what I'm doing. Don't forget that I've been training at this job for years!"

"As have I."

Asuka sent a death glare over the video uplink that chilled the air between Tokyo-3 and the middle of the Pacific Ocean. "I know that, Ayanami. I'm just saying that obviously I should be the one to take point. Because if and I don't for a moment think this will ever happen _if_ I were knocked out of a fight and the safety of the world falls to _you _and your thirty percent synch ratio well, God help us all."

"If you cannot pilot, I will do so until I die," she replied plainly.

"Well, yeah." Asuka smirked. "That's the problem, isn't it?"

""

Asuka leaned back in her seat, a large, plush leather chair that the_ Over the Rainbow_'s admiral would be irritated to know she was lounging in. "At least you're not piloting that glitchy death trap of an Eva anymore. I mean, a Test Type isn't a Production Model but it's a definite step up from that Prototype. Unit-01's never gone berserk or moved on its own."

Rei had nothing to say to this comment.

"Heard anything from that waste-of-air Third Child?"

"No. Nor do I believe I will."

Asuka snorted. "He'll come crawling back, you'll see."

"Why?"

"Because who in there right mind would pass up a chance to pilot an Eva? To be a special person? Honestly, Ayanami, sometimes you say the weirdest things."

Rei turned back to business. "I have reduced the collateral damage in my simulations of the _Shamshel_ engagement by a further 8 percent."

"Meh. Collateral damage. As long as you kill the Angel does that really matter much?"

"Captain Katsuragi says t-"

"Misato says a lot of things," cut in Asuka. "Just because she says them doesn't make them true."

"She is our commanding officer."

"And you're an Eva pilot. Field experience beats that any day of the week."

"Damage to Tokyo-3's intercept system would reduce our ability to combat the Angels and adapt to changing battle conditions."

"Alright. I'll give you that much," Asuka scratched her nose, "but victory's still the most important thing. If you don't win, what's the point of even trying?" Not giving Rei a chance to respond, the Second Child brought up a text prompt on the video feed. "So here's what I want you to try next Unit-01 verses three Angels armed with progressive chainsaws. Oh, and there's a countdown to an N2 drop so don't waste time screwing around."

"This scenario does not seem to conform to anything in NERV's real-world engagements with the Angels. I do not understand why I should p-"

"Jeez, loosen up, First Child. It's supposed to be fun."

"Fun?"

"Yeah! I put you in a no-win scenario and get to see you squirm fun."

"If I cannot win, what is the point of trying?"

"Like I said it's fun to see how you'd fail."

"What if I were to prove your description of this engagement incorrect?"

Asuka frowned, taking a second to parse that statement. "Wait, you mean what if you actually manage to win?"

Rei nodded.

"Then," the redhead said with a slightly wolfish grin, "you might just be worth my time after all, First Child."

* * *

His uncle walked into the kitchen without looking over at Shinji. "How was school?"

The former Eva pilot, standing over the stove, tended to cooking food in front of him. "It was okay."

"Huh." His uncle walked over to him. "More stir-fry?"

"Y-yes," he said to the disappointed remark.

His uncle turned away, scratching his stubbly chin as he did so. "Well, it's nice to have you back, Shinji. I was going crazy trying to get my rice the way I like it."

Shinji said nothing.

"Always good to have another hand around the house."

Shinji sprinkled in some spices.

"I don't suppose you're ever going to tell me what your asshole of a father did to drive you back here."

"He lied to me," Shinji explained.

"Well, obviously, that's kind of a given with the man, but what exactly made you see the light?"

Shinji tapped his wooden spoon on the rim of the pan. "I'd rather not talk about it, uncle."

"Huh. Must have been something pretty nasty to get you to come back to this hole."

"This place isn't a hole," said Shinji, turning half his face towards the older man. "It's my home."

"Well," his uncle said in a lighter tone, "I'm glad you feel that way, boy."

* * *

Ritsuko lit up a cigarette.

"Hey, can I bum one?"

"I thought you quit," she said even as she offered her old friend the pack.

"They help me think," Misato replied, flicking open Ritsuko's _Hello Kitty_ zippo lighter.

"Feeling guilty, are you?"

Misato took a short drag. "No. I'm not."

"Oh really?"

The two women had been holed up in Ritsuko Akagi's office for the better part of the day, going over details of the upcoming mission. Misato had said little so far, instead soaking in the background provided by her friend on the upcoming demonstration and on the parameters of the virus she had written to corrupt the Jet Alone. Now, after a good half hour of intermittent silence, Misato Katsuragi had found her voice again.

"It's an assignment like any other," she said. "It's not exactly what I signed up for but if the JA is a threat to our finding then the JA needs to be eliminated." She tossed the lighter back. Ritsuko caught it in a one-handed catch. "It's the possibility of civilian casualties I'm worried about. What about when it starts the rampage by walking through the JA Command Center? We could be looking at a death toll in the triple digits even if the building doesn't collapse."

"If you feel that way I can rewrite the virus, but there's a dramatic point to its rampage. Remember, this isn't a military operation, it's a covert one with a political aim."

"Who knew orchestrating terrorism could be so hard?" Misato rubbed her forehead with the hand that held her cigarette. "What about the radiation?"

"There's nearly zero chance the reactor will go critical. Trust me. The program I wrote will shut it down before that happens. Short of an extraordinary mechanical failure it won't blow."

"That's another problem, Ritsu." She leaned back in the creaky office chair. "It looks fishy. I mean, everyone knows this thing is draining funds from NERV and then during its first public demonstration the JA _just happens_ to go on a nuclear rampage but shuts down on its own _just before_ it does any real damage?"

"Well what do you want it to do? Blow it up?"

"I'm not going to nuke my own country, thank you. No, I think we need to stop it."

Ritsuko frowned. "What? The demonstration? Or this mission?"

The raven-haired Captain tilted her head back and blew a tall plume of grey smoke upwards at the ceiling. "The Jet Alone, Ritsuko. NERV needs to be the one to stop it."

"What? Why?"

"Just think about it," she said, absentmindedly wondering at the same time why there were so many pencils jabbed into Ritsuko's office ceiling. "The JA needs to fail, yeah, but why not have NERV look good at the same time? The Jet Alone goes on its rampage and they can't shut it down remotely. NERV can step up and deploy an Evangelion. It'll have to be Unit-01 since Unit-00 hasn't been upgraded to ride the Delta wing. We stop the JA and come out looking like heroes. Better yet, since we're doing this in the public eye it'll be Section Seven's chance to preempt negative PR about the Evas." She smiled. "We stop the JA and position the Evas as the good guys better, the _competent_ guys."

"Great idea, Misato. Really. But won't it look just as suspicious if we have an Eva beat the crap out of the only existing JA? And what about the risk of radiation if Rei damages the reactor?"

"Oh, Ritsu, don't be silly." Misato stretched lazily. "We'll have someone board the Jet Alone using the Eva and then have that person shut down the computer manually before meltdown. That way it looks like someone actually stopped the JA instead of it mysteriously turning off on its own." She laughed. "It's so over the top that nobody would seriously think we staged it."

"you can't be serious."

"I'm always serious. Just ask my pet penguin."

"And who do you plan oh God."

"Yup."

"You can't be serious!"

* * *

"Fuyutsuki, do you think we should kill Shinji's uncle?"

"No," he said, moving a rook on the board between the two men. "It might bring the boy back to Tokyo-3 but it would emotionally destabilize him. Besides, even a fourteen year old would question the timing of it."

"Hmmm. You're right. Still, I thought it might be worth discussing."

He chuckled. "You're just looking for an excuse to kill Yui's brother."

"Well, he _is_ an asshole. Yui didn't even bother covertly arranging shelter for him during the Second Impact."

"Ah," dryly commented the Vice-Commander, "so that explains it. That invitation to that inland academic conference on September 12th always struck me as a tad fortuitous."

Gendo moved his remaining knight. "The hotel room really had a nice view, didn't it?"

"I take it the high-class hooker that showed up at my door was your work."

"You know what they say about survival situations they have the tendency to bring different sorts of people together in ways they'd never normally consider."

He smiled. "Bastard."

"It's true."

"Yeah, just look at us now." He moved his queen. "Check."

Gendo frowned. He studied the chessboard. "Hmm."

"Well," said the Vice-Commander, waiting for his friend to make his move, "the clock is ticking."

"Hold up. I'll move my piece when I'm ready."

"I meant about Shinji. We need him for certain Angels, regardless of Unit-01 berserking or not. Besides, when all the Angels are dead he'll be vuln-"

"We'll _drag_ Shinji back if need be," Gendo said, "but not yet. We have nine weeks until Sahaquiel. He may still return of his own accord."

"What possible motive would he have to do so?"

Gendo smirked. "Hate and need."

"What do you mean?"

The Commander didn't bother to elaborate. He selected his next move in their game. "Doctor Akagi informed me that the cores for the Mark II Dummy Plug are nearing maturation."

The Vice-Commander was not impressed with either his friend's digression or his gameplay. "It's a waste of resources, an unnecessary redundancy. Akagi would better spend her time on the S2." He moved his bishop. "Check."

"Now, now, Professor. It's never a waste of time to collect a new doll. You never know when you might need it."

Kozo frowned. "A _doll_? Is that some sort of sick joke, Ikari?"

"It's an inside joke. Not what you think." Gendo paused in thought. "How goes Rei's socialization training?"

"The Second is making her jump through hoops for no real purpose. It's all very childish, though the girls are developing something of a functional working relationship. Also, Rei's overall sim scores have been improving even if her synch ratio is still disappointing. She's become quite dedicated to her profession since the 5th's attack. I don't suppose you know why?"

The question was slipped in matter-of-factly. Gendo saw it coming. "I'd forgotten how boring these little verbal dances we do were, Professor."

"Funny, I was growing to appreciate you being open with me."

"I prefer not to resign my liberty on certain matters just yet."

Gendo moved a pawn. Fuyutsuki retaliated by taking his friend's queen. "Checkmate."

Commander Ikari jerked his eyes down towards the chessboard. "What?"

"I win," said Kozo, not quite believing his own words.

""

"Best of three?"

* * *

_Back in his office, back being studied_, thought Misato to herself.

Everyone was waiting for the Commander to say something, anything about her plan to deal with the Jet Alone. No one dared break the silence before Gendo Ikiar said his peace. As the seconds wore on, however, the situation was becoming tense and just a little awkward. Misato wasn't sure what Ritsuko and the Vice-Commander were doing during this waiting game she was busy meeting the steady gaze of the Commander.

_Well, at least he's not staring at my tits._

"I have serious reservations about NERV operating an Evangelion in the public eye," he said at last. "However, your plan does benefit this agency despite its somewhat dramatic flair. You have my approval, Captain Katsuragi."

"I must object to this course of action," said Ritsuko. "The Captain's proposal endangers the secrecy of NERV and puts her own wellbeing at risk. There's any number of ways this operation could go wrong just with the airdrop alone."

"I accept that there is personal risk involved," said Misato, "but I am the best choice for this role. Besides, Rei will be able to protect me."

"Are you really willing to trust your life to a pilot with a _thirty-one percent_ synchronization ratio?"

That was an objection no one, not even Commander Ikari, could find intrinsic fault with. Since the departure of the Third Child, Rei Ayanami's low synch ratio was a growing concern among the senior staff of NERV. Though it had spiked after the battle with the 5th Angel to a respectable thirty percent an event only Commander Ikari could but didn't explain to his underlings her overall growth had stalled out.

Oddly, it was _Rei_ who had taken steps to compensate for her low synch ratio by increasing her training in the combat simulator. The First Child had thrown herself wholeheartedly into piloting after the 5th's attack, pursuing Eva with a dedication that rivaled her tutor's.

Misato made her case plain, "_We_ trust our lives to a pilot with a thirty-one percent synch ration every day, waiting for an Angel to show up. My safety in this operation is paltry in comparison."

"And what if an Angel attacks while Unit-01 is deployed in the field? Unit-00 is still undergoing its refit, and even if we managed to scramble it _we have no pilot_!"

The Commander cut into the private argument between the friends, "Your objections are noted, Doctor Akagi, but overruled. The operation will proceed as planned. Dismissed."

Misato nodded curtly. "Sir."

Ritsuko frowned. "Commander."

The two exited the vast office.

* * *

Fuyutsuki glanced at the closed door. "That was eerie."

"Yes," agreed Gendo, rubbing his eyes, "but her plan is sound. It worked last time."

"Assuming she doesn't fall out of Rei's hand during the airdrop."

"I trust her judgment in this regard." The Commander reached into his desk for several folders containing information on budgetary matters. Despite his machinations and counter-machinations someone still needed to sign on the dotted line of day-to-day matters. "The Captain's may have a streak of self-sacrifice but it is outweighed by her capacity for ruthlessness. It is one of the reason I hired her."

"Perhaps."

"Is that a note of doubt, Professor?"

"She has too much empathy. Ikari, can we trust her with the scenario?"

He scanned the document before him. "There is no one else."

"Hrmph."

"Once we have the Lance we will tell her everything."

"everything?" Fuyutsuki frowned. "And if reacts poorly?"

He scribbled a note in the margins. "We deal with her."

"And then who will we trust with the scenario?"

"God."

* * *

A few days later

_Rrriiiiiing _

_Rrriiiiiing _

_Rrriiiiiing _

_Rrr-_CLICK "Hello, Horaki Residence."

"Umm hi. It's me."

"Shinji!" said the girl. "Wow, I didn't think you'd ever call."

"Y-yeah, sorry. I've been busy here, moving back in. My uncle's been making me catch up on all sorts of chores."

"It's all right. I'm just glad to hear from you."

Shinji blinked. "You are?"

"Of course. I'm your friend, aren't I?"

""

"Shinji? Hello?"

"Yeah, sorry. I'm here." He paused, racking his brain for what he was supposed to say next. "How are you?"

"I'm good. Things have been pretty normal. I mean, there haven't even been any A-"

"Hikari," he hastily cut her off, "Misato told me that they'd be monitoring my calls. I can't talk about any of _that_ stuff. I you could get into trouble."

"Oh," she said, a tad shocked. "Well, uh, I see."

Shinji leaned his back against a nearby wall. "So how's Nozomi? And, uh, the other one?"

"Kodama."

"Right."

"Nozomi's good. She was pretty upset after you left."

He frowned. "Really?"

"Yeah," she replied. "She had a good time that night at dinner."

"Huh?"

"Well, aside from the food poisoning."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

Hikari chuckled. "It's not your fault, Shinji. The fact is was a fly-by-night sushi stand should have tipped us off."

"Yeah, you know the weird thing? Misato didn't get sick."

"Really? Wow. Did she stick with the rice?"

"No. She actually had the shrimp too. I think it was her ironclad stomach. You wouldn't believe the things she eats."

"Like what?"

Shinji started to pace. "Oh, really terrible food. When I moved in she made a welcoming meal of instant ramen flavored with tabasco sauce and ginger."

"Oh my god."

"And that was one of her better meals!"

"How can an adult not know how to cook?" she asked, horrified. "How'd you put up with that?"

He laughed. "When we divvied up chores with games of rock paper scissors I let her cheat the whole time. I ended up doing everything just so I'd have a clean place with edible food."

"That's horrible!"

"Yeah," he said halfheartedly. "And Rei was just as bad."

"Really?" Hikari perked up at gossip of her fellow classmate.

"She made miso soup for us a few times, but it was pretty plain. She didn't really know how to flavor it right."

"You seem to know a lot about cooking."

Shinji nodded to no one in particular. "Well, my uncle works late hours so I had to fend for myself as a kid. I pretty much just do all the meals around here."

"We should trade recipes sometime," offered Hikari. "I do most of the cooking for my family too. I'll have to cook you something when you come to visit."

Shinji said nothing.

"You _are_ going to visit?" asked Hikari.

"I I'm not sure if that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

Shinji reached for a chair and sat down at his kitchen table. "I, um, I just don't think I should come back. It'd be weird. And I don't think I could face my fa-"

He stopped and jammed his eyes shut, furious at his inadvertent admission.

"Shinji?"

"Look," he bowed his head, "I just can't go back, Hikari. I wasn't meant to be there."

"You were a hero, Shinji," said Hikari urgently. "I know it hurt you to pilot Eva but I felt safer knowing y CLICK _We're sorry, but for security purposes we have terminated this call. Thank you for your cooperation_."

The line went dead.

Shinji stared at the receive in his hands for several seconds, then hung it up.

* * *

Staring at the stained countertops and scuffed floor of her apartment's kitchen, Misato Katsuragi sighed.

Unlike Shinji, Rei seldom did cleaning on her own. While the First Child would dutifully perform her assigned chores she did so without any real drive or attention to the little details. Ramen cups and beer cans would be picked up around the apartment but Rei never tided up afterwards. As a result the apartment had taken on a tattered look little more than a week after Shinji's departure. It was, Misato mused as she retrieved a beer from the fridge, as if no one had ever taught Rei Ayanami how to take care of herself.

"Pen Pen," she said, handing her pet a can of his own, "if that girl's how Commander Ikari would have raised Shinji, maybe it's a good thing he ran away."

The penguin cracked open his Yebisu. "Wrak."

"Seriously."

Misato downed her beer quickly, then grabbed another. This time she nursed her drink slowly, studying the now-foul smelling kitchen around her: bits of dried food stuck to the sink and countertops, pop tabs she'd pulled off her beers were sprinkled all over, and everything just seemed maddeningly out of place.

_God, she's just like me only she never has fun. I need to do something about that._

Rei Ayanami wasn't here, though. She was at headquarters, running tests for Ritsuko. So, Misato decided, that left only one thing she could deal with at the moment.

The sight of his owner setting her still unfinished beer aside startled Pen Pen. The unnaturally heavy _clink _of the not-empty can went off like a gunshot. The penguin staaaaared at the raven-haired woman.

Unbuttoning one shirt cuff, then the other, Misato Katsuragi proceeded to roll her sleeves up past her elbows.

Pen Pen took a half step backwards.

"Okay," she said, determined, "now where do you suppose Shinji stuck the Lysol?"

Pen Pen dropped his beer and fled to his private fridge, yelping in panic.

"Yeesh. Everyone's a critic."

* * *

(echo line results suggest a positive correlation between the Super-Solenoid's impact on its surrounding phase space and the vibrations along the fifth lat-)

_Knock Knock_

Doctor Ritsuko Akagi looked up from her computer monitor. It had been a long day in a month of long weeks, she realized, but had she just imagined someone _knocking _on her office door instead of using the call chime like a normal person?

_Knock Knock_

Huh, she thought. "You can come in," Ritsuko said, toggling a switch on her desk to unlock the door.

The mechanical door snapped open with a hiss. The question of the knocking was answered with NERV's Vice-Commander stepping into her office.

_Ah_, she thought, _the Luddite._

Ritsuko Akagi gave little thought to Kozo Fuyutsuki. Despite his position, she knew he was a minor player in the grand scheme of things. Her mother had confessed to Ritsuko her belief that the Commander only kept the old man around as a favor to his late wife. Fuyutsuki needed protection from SEELE, her mother had said, because he had tried and failed at being a moral crusader.

Nothing in her own experience at NERV had dissuaded Ritsuko of that idea. Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki did little more than sign off on Gendo's schemes. She doubted he held any real sway with the Commander. Still, it wouldn't do to show disrespect. Fuyutsuki had been around long enough to have vital connections throughout NERV's various global branches. He could be useful. Plus he knew where the bodies metaphorical and literal were buried.

"Vice-Commander," she said, not rising from her seat, "what can I do for you?"

The Vice-Commander cleared his throat as if to speak but said nothing for several seconds. At last he asked, "Doctor Akagi, I'll get straight to the point. I need to know how the Commander has been sleeping."

Ritsuko stared back.

"Doctor Akagi?"

"I, er, yes. I heard." She gathered her wits. "I don't know what you're referring to, sir."

Fuyutsuki arched an eyebrow. "I very much doubt that."

"I don't see how it's any of your business how the Commander sleeps, sir."

The grimace on the Vice-Commander's face told her that he knew damn well that the affair wasn't something he should be conversing about, even tangentially. Aside from the fact that it wasn't directly related to her duties at NERV even the Vice-Commander was aware that the affair wasn't something to be discussed. Ever.

_And since he's asking me here, away from Gendo..._

"The Commander's mental state is important to NERV," Fuyutsuki dryly explained. "That means I need to know everything."

"I won't talk about this."

"I assure you, this conversation will not get back to the Comm-"

"No," she cut him off. "We're not talking about this matter. End of discussion."

"Yes, we are."

She glared at him.

"I'm worried that the departure of his son is negatively affecting Gendo," said the Vice-Commander.

"What?" she asked, dubious to the idea.

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "He may not say it but I've noticed certain shifts in his behavior as of late. He keeps odd hours. His temper has been shorter. On Wednesday I even beat him at a game of chess. I haven't done that in nearly eighteen er, _eight_ months."

Ritsuko processed these revelations. Gendo _had_ been more irritable as of late, pushing her hard on the S2 Project and the two Dummy Plug Projects. She and Maya had even taken to bunking in the Geo-Front to save on travel time to work. Still, she had expected such demands from Gendo Ikari. He was nothing if not determined. It was an admirable quality in a man, so long as he wasn't 'determined' towards you.

"I've known about your affair for three years," he confessed. "What you and Ikari consent to do in your free time is no business of mine fine but the Commander has been under a great deal of stress lately. With the return of the Angels. And the subject of Shinji is the one thing he will never, ever discuss with me."

"He doesn't exactly bare his soul to me either," she said, dispensing with any remaining pretense of ignorance.

"I figured as much." The Vice-Commander sighed. "That said you _are_ the only other person who spends personal time with Ikari."

_So we're calling it 'personal time'. Polite as ever, Fuyutsuki_. "I haven't noticed anything odd."

"Think harder. Has he said anything, done anything even the slightest bit out of the ordinary in the past week?"

"No."

"How has he been... sleeping?"

_Aren't I supposed to be the one feeling awkward?_ "If this gets back to the Commander-"

"It won't," he assured her.

""

"You have my word."

"He's been having nightmares once in a while," she confessed grimly. "I'm not sure about what. He won't tell me. When he has them he only sleeps a few hours each night. It's more like napping than real sleep."

""

_Come on, you old fart. Spill. Gendo's sure as hell not sweating over the boy_.

But Fuyutsuki wasn't in the mood for sharing. "Thank you," he said, adding a curt nod. "This conversation never happened."

"It better not have. For both our sakes."

The Vice-Commander made to leave. He stopped, however, at the doorway and without looking back asked, "Doctor Akagi? There is one more matter I have been meaning to bring up."

Wary, she asked, "Yes?"

"I realize you view Rei Ayanami as a competitor for the Commander's affections," he said. "That you see her as someone who could... replace you... in his life."

Shock, fear, and then anger shot through Ritsuko Akagi's heart. She opened her mouth to say something. What exactly, she wasn't sure. Fuyutsuki preempted her before either of them could find out.

"Such a view would be mistaken. Rei is a replacement for Shinji, not you."

"..."

"I've consented to a great many things, committed acts that would have been unthinkable to that bygone professor in Kyoto. However," he glanced over his shoulder, still not quite making eye contact with her, "if Gendo were to make Rei a replacement in _that _way... I would kill him. Because even I have still limits, Doctor."

"..."

"But it will never come to that because Gendo doesn't see Rei in that way. Neither should you."

"..."

He unlocked the door and triggered the electronic mechanism to open it. "Good day, Doctor." He stepped out.

Ritsuko Akagi stared at the closed door for several seconds before scowling.

"What a fucking moron," she cursed darkly under her breath. "Nobody has limits here. Nobody."

* * *

Later that night, a young teen returned to her home.

The smell of chemicals belted Rei Ayanami across the face as soon as the door to the apartment opened. The First Child blinked, her eyes watering. Deciding that ventilation was needed to make her living space habitual again she sucked in a lungful of good air and then strode into the apartment. Rei walked in a straight line to the apartment's balcony door the glass of one portion still spiderwebbed and threw it open. Immediately the hot, psychedelic air of the apartment was flushed out by a cross breeze between the balcony and the still-open front door.

The First Child exhaled, then inhaled slowly, careful to avoid any danger from the toxic smelling air. Wiping her eyes, Rei made her way to the source of the reek the kitchen. And also in the kitchen

"Hey," said Misato Katsuragi, sprawled on the floor in dirty clothes, "when did you grow a second head?"

The Captain, Rei decided, had obviously been affected by her exposure to the chemical agents. Glancing around the kitchen, Rei picked up on the source of the danger.

"Did a liiiiiiittle cleaning," said Captain Katsuragi, gesturing to the half-dirty kitchen area. The room looked as if someone had drawn a line down the middle and only cleaned one half.

Badly.

The varnish had come off sections of the kitchen table. The countertops glistened with a wet substance that reflected the light shone on them in a rainbow hue. The sinks were backed up with soapy greenish water. The several dozen discolored spots on the linoleum, however, mystified Rei the most. The First Child was unable to theorize what caused them.

"Lucy in the skyyyyy with diamonds," sang Misato. "Lucy in the skyyyyy with crap, what's the next part? Fuckin' John Lennon always stealin' my music."

Judging that her guardian was in no condition to answer questions, she helped the older woman to her feet and half-carried her into the living room so that she could breathe fresh air. After several minutes Captain Katsuragi looked decidedly more lucid.

"Thanks," mumbled Misato.

"Are you well?"

Her guardian gave her a thumbs up. Rei took that as a positive.

"I could use a beer."

"I do not believe that would be prudent at this juncture."

"Ow," cringed her guardian. "Too many big words." She opened her eyes and glanced over at Rei. "I'm going on a trip tomorrow. I'll be getting back late."

"The Jet Alone demonstration."

"Yeah. You'll have to order out for dinner."

"Why?"

"Because you'll be home alone," replied the older woman. "And because I wouldn't turn on the stove to a high temperature considering what I accidentally used to clean it. I think the resulting gas would qualify as a treaty violation of the chemical warfare ban."

"I do not believe I will have to worry about dinner."

Misato slumped back into the sofa with a frown "Huh? You going over to Hikari's again?"

"I will be assisting you with Unit-01 on the Jet Alone mission."

Misato was silent for several seconds. "So you know, huh?"

"Commander Ikari informed me of the operation this morning."

"Kinda figured it was something like that. You're pretty close to the Commander."

Rei had nothing to say.

"Any objections to the mission?"

"No."

"That's it?" asked the Captain, displaying to Rei a steel in her voice that often was absent in their shared domicile. "_No_?"

"I have my orders."

"Life is more than orders, Rei. There's right and wrong too. Don't you every think about right and wrong?"

"It is not my place to understand such things."

"Don't be such a tool, kid."

Rei Ayanami shifted in her seat, discomforted by Captain Katsuragi's last comment but not entirely understanding the reference. "Pilot Soryu told me that while you say many things that you claim are true you are, in fact, sometimes in error."

Her commanding officer laughed bitterly. "That's Asuka for you. Little bitch." She shifted her eyes towards Rei. "Don't repeat that. Consider _that_ an order."

"Yes, sir."

Captain Katsuragi sighed. "Don't say that at home. We're off duty. Call me Misato."

"Yes, Misato." Calling an adult, let alone her commanding officer, by her first name was still a strange act for Rei. She would, however, try harder in the future.

"Look, Rei, would you say you're a solider?"

The First Child nodded.

"And soldiers follow orders, right?"

"Correct. An obedient chain-of-command is vital to the success of a mission."

"Exactly! But sometimes you'll be given orders that conflict with your moral imperatives. Then you have to make a choice whether to follow those orders or not." She sat up again. "For instance, if I told you that, say, Unit-02 was an enemy and had to be destroyed, would you do it?"

"Yes."

"Even if it meant killing Asuka?"

"Yes," she answered without hesitation.

"Shit," laughed Misato. "Wow!"

""

"How would you know if Asuka was really your enemy though?"

"If you are asking me when not to trust my commanding officer's intel on a target then the answer is if my orders directly contradict my own experiences in the field."

"Okay." Misato paused. "What if I said Commander Ikari was your enemy?"

"He is not."

"But what if he was?"

"He is _not_," she insisted.

"Neither is Asuka, but you didn't have trouble puling the trigger on her in a vague hypothetical scenario."

""

"Don't have an answer for that one, huh?"

That bothered Rei. "No."

Misato sighed. "Look, don't get me wrong, I see the need for what we're doing tomorrow. It's just hell," she shrugged, "I don't know either."

"The operation will go on as schedule and conclude without incident. I will not allow you to be injured during the airdrop."

"Thanks, Rei." Misato glanced over her shoulder back at the kitchen. "You didn't happen to see Pen Pen in there, did you?"

"No."

"Oh."

Rei Ayanami frowned. Were penguins more susceptible to the dangers of fumigation than humans? She found she didn't know. None of her reading material had ever concerned itself with the biology of those birds they were extinct in the wild, after all.

"Wait, wait," said Misato, interruption her musings. "He's sleeping on the balcony."

The penguin was indeed. Rei frowned, though. Hadn't the balcony door been locked from the inside when she had opened it? Had the bird somehow snuck past her while she was assisting Captain Katsuragi? And if not, how then had Pen Pen reached the lock when he closed the door from the balcony side? And if he could open the door, why lock it with his owner still inside?

Misato was apparently thinking the same thing. "Trying to murder me in my sleep. Bad Pen Pen! That's a bad, bad penguin!"

Pen Pen, in response, continued to doze.

Misato looked to Rei. "Eh, I doubt it was premeditated anyways."

""

The older woman stood up. "I'm going to bed. I need an early start tomorrow." She walked towards her bedroom at the end of the hallway. "Good night, Rei," Misato called back with a wave. "Sweet dreams."

The First Child frowned. "Dreams?"

Misato Katsuragi, however, had already shut her bedroom door.

* * *

_Shinji found himself standing on the linear express._

_He was looking over his shoulder, unable to fully meet the gazes of the girl and the woman. "Goodbye, Miss Misato. Goodbye, Rei._

_"I I just"_

_"Just what?" demanded the girl standing behind him on the train._

_He looked down at the floor, ashamed. _

_"Pathetic," said the girl._

_The doors closed. The train started to move. Shinji shuffled over the nearest seat. The girl, silhouetted by the gleaming golden light of a rising run, stared back at him from across the aisle. Shinji couldn't make out any of her features. She wasn't even really a distinct figure, just the vague shape of a teenage girl. He had no face to put to this accuser._

_"Why did you run away?"_

_"I didn't run away," he said. "I chose to leave."_

_"Why did you run away?"_

_"I already said!" Shinji frowned. "What are you, stupid?"_

_The backlit girl smirked. "That's my line."_

_"Whatever," he huffed._

_"So why did you 'choose to leave'? Was it because you hate your father?"_

_"I dont hate my father."_

_"He lied to you. He used you. If he were my father I'd hate him."_

_"He he had his reasons."_

_"Pfft. Right. There you go again, making excuses for him."_

_Shinji bowed his head. "He doesn't want me. He doesn't need me."_

_"Why do think that? Is it because of Ayanami?"_

_""_

_"Is it because he loves Rei Ayanami and not you?"_

_""_

_"Why is it then?"_

_"They don't need me. I'm not a hero."_

_"And what is a hero? Is someone a hero only because other people call them a hero?"_

_"Well, yeah. Otherwise they'd just be full of themselves."_

_"Then by your definition you are a hero. Misato, Hikari, your classmates they called you a hero."_

_He shook his head. "They're wrong. I'm no hero. I'm a coward."_

_"Why?"_

_"Because a hero should be brave! Not like me!"_

_"Is your real objection because a hero should be loved by his father?"_

_""_

_"Did you really think piloting Eva would make your father change?"_

_"He he said he said mother w-"_

_"You're avoiding reality," said the girl. "The man who came to your uncle's house to recruit you to pilot Eva was still the same man who abandoned you all those years ago. You knew that, yet you still came to Tokyo-3."_

_"He lied to me! He tricked me! He was just using me!"_

_"Did you want to be used by him?"_

_"Of course not! What sort of question is that?!"_

_"Do you hate your father for using you, Shinji?"_

_"SHUT UP!"_

_His scream brought silence to the train car. The two teens stared at one another, each staring blankly at the other. Only the rocking of the car on the track punctuated the truce between the two._

_Shinji looked away from the shaded figure, not wanting her to see his watering eyes._

_"They need you, Shinji," she said, "just like you need to pilot Eva."_

_"They don't need me. They have Ayanami! They have you!"_

_The girl chuckled. "Well, I _am_ pretty awesome." _

_"Exactly! I'm not cut out to pilot Eva."_

_"Says the boy who killed three Angels, two of them solo."_

_"I'm not special," he said, slumping forward. "They only liked me because I piloted Eva."_

_"So?"_

_"Why else would they want to be around me? I'm worthless!"_

_"God, you're acting like such a _child_," moaned the girl. "Do you really think Misato would have treated you that way she did if she thought you were a burden?"_

_"I want to disappear," confessed Shinji. "I want to forget about Father and Eva and Tokyo-3. I just want to stay here forever."_

_"Yeah, try that. Be a nobody. Go break a leg!" She brought a hand to her neck and daintily massaged it. "It'll be a nice change of pace."_

_"Nobody understands me."_

_"Oh?" The girl thumbed at the door leading to the next compartment. "What about _him_?"_

_"Huh?"_

_The girl said nothing. She just stared at him. Reluctantly, Shinji stood up and crept forward, unsure. He made it to the door leading to next train car and peaked through. The sight he saw shook him awake._

"F-father?" he mumbled in the nighttime.

Shinji stared at the ceiling that was lost in the darkness. The dream, once so clear, faded from memory. Only the sentiment remained fixed in his mind. After a while Shinji rolled over in bed and gathered the covers back around him. This time his sleep was dreamless.

* * *

_Gendo stared at the shaded forms of Captain Katsuragi and Doctor Akagi. They were sitting opposite him on the train their backs to the setting sun leaving their features indistinct against the flaring golden light of the sunset that framed them._

_"You see compassion as weakness," Katsuragi said._

_"Such an irrational man," added Ritsuko. _

_"This world punishes compassion. Better to keep a level head and a cool eye on one's goals," Gendo replied. "Anything else is wasted effort."_

_Katsuragi asked, "Like Pilot Ayanami?"_

_"No."_

_"She is a replacement," Ritsuko said, "a copy of the woman you loved, the woman who chose to abandon you and your son."_

_"No. Rei is Rei. She has her own worth. I see that now."_

_"You _want_ that now," admonished Katsuragi._

_"No. It is the truth."_

_Katsuragi shook her head. "The First was replaceable."_

_"The Second stayed that way despite your affections," said Ritsuko._

_"But the Third realized what she was at heart," said Misato. "A thing. A tool devised to bring about the end of man's suffering."_

_"Instrumentality," said Ritsuko. "Human Complementation."_

_"Not this time!" declared Gendo. "Mankind will triumph on its own two feet!"_

_Katsuragi asked, "Mankind? Or you? Only one side can _win_ a war, Commander. Any military officer can tell you that fact."_

_He frowned. "No. No, I've given up _that_ plan, _that_ hope. There will be no Third Impact, no Instrumentality. I'll see to that. I have a plan. Man will live past the red and dying evening. Man will prevail. Man will triumph."_

_"Such an irrational man," sighed Ritsuko. _

_"The Chamber of Gaf is empty, Commander."_

_"What?"_

_Katsuragi nodded. "Any school child knows that."_

_"Are the gloves staying on this time, lover?" asked Ritsuko._

_He looked down and was puzzled by the sight that greeted him. His left hand was bare, turning it over he saw the palm riddled with scar tissue, but a pristine white glove covered his right hand. That hand felt warm heavy._

_"Another lie," said Katsuragi._

_Fear and adrenaline spiked through him. Gendo's left hand darted over and ripped off the right hand's glove. He turned over that hand and on the palm was-_

* * *

Gendo Ikari awoke in a sweat.

It took the bearded man several seconds to reorient himself in reality. The dark bedroom, the sheets tangled around his legs, the woman resting on his chest it all seemed so alien, so wrong.

"What's wrong?" asked Ritsuko Akagi.

_I'm not dead,_ he reminded himself._ I'm alive again._

"Nothing," he said firmly. _Just another dream._

"Was it a dream?"

He frowned, drowsy and confused, but also caught off-guard by the fact that his lover had zeroed in on his troubles. _"What?"_

"You had a a nightmare before," she said haltingly, obviously self-conscious.

_I'm having them now even when she's here. Damn. This could complicate matters. _"I don't remember," he said, trying to keep his tone casual and vaguely uninterested. "Did I say anything amusing?"

"No. Nothing coherent. Something about a tree. You were upset." She was being diplomatic, he realized. She wasn't going to throw his night terrors back at him. Not when she was still playing for his affections. Not when she was afraid of him.

Gendo grunted. "Try to get some sleep, Doctor. Tomorrow is a busy day." With that he turned over, away from the blonde, and closed his eyes. Keeping his breathing slow he mimed the rhythms of sleep even after his companion had herself drifted off for the night.

The dreams did not return that night, but neither did sleep.

* * *

_I'm supposed to be helping these people by fighting the Angels. Instead I'm committing acts of industrial sabotage and terrorism. _Misato sipped her drink and nodded politely at a passing JSSDF general she had once worked under. _Is it really worth it? Is this what I signed up for?_

"What a waste," huffed Ritsuko, carefully paging through a glossy informational brochure so as not to spill her drink. Handed out with their drinks, the brochures trumpeted the achievements of the company's current major initiatives. The Jet-Alone took up half the pamphlet. "Nippon Heavy Industry Solidarity used to be at the forefront of defense research here in Japan, now they're cribbing notes from the Yamato Group."

"We were the only ones who came in a VTOL, weren't we?"

Ritsuko dropped the brochure along with her empty champagne glass on a passing waiter's tray. "A VTOL built under NERV's contact with the Yamato Group. It's not like these people can even get their foot in the door of the aerospace industry anymore."

"Yeah," she said, "they got shot down for that big bomber plane contract back in, what, 2009? The Air Force still bitches about that fiasco."

"Really? Why?"

"Oh, some bigwig in the Special Forces division Tachiki, I think his name was managed to torpedo the deal and hand it to the Yamato Group. It was this whole clash of personalities in the Diet, rival factions and all that. Y'know, politics."

"Must have been a real bastard."

Misato frowned. "You're taking it a little personally."

"I know a few people here from my post-grad days." Ritsuko gestured to a group of engineers holding a pow-wow at the foot of the podium. "See that guy with the waterfall of a beard? That's Ito. We used to get together sometimes to have coffee at this little caf and mock the poetry readers who came on open mike night."

"Seriously?"

Her lip curled up at one end. "I'm always up for a bit of schadenfreuden, Misato." She grabbed a fresh glass from a passing tray. "I had a job offer from this place a few years back, right before I joined NERV."

"You? You were going to go _corporate_?"

"Not all of us have your motives, Misato." She sipped her drink. "Besides, if I was going to show up my mother I needed the backing of someone with a budget."

_And then there was a job opening at NERV. _Misato checked her watch. "The booze is great and all but when are they going to show the giant robot?"

"Ten minutes. I think that y heads up, Ito's coming over."

"Dr. Akagi!" called a jovial voice. "Came to see the JA after all, huh?"

"If you're talking about that walking nuclear bomb, then yes."

Ito smiled. "With any luck that walking 'nuclear bomb' will put your overpriced Evas out of a job, Akagi."

Misato sipped her drink as the two old colleagues bantered. _Nothing today is being left to luck, _she thought to herself.

* * *

Unlike the one in Tokyo-3, Shinji's hometown school had no roof to escape to during lunch. The schoolhouse itself was a converted from a fire house after the Second Impact and its slanted roof offered no solace to those wanting to get away from the world. Instead, most of the students either ate in their classroom or in the wood areas surrounding the building.

While small, the school serviced the small population of the surrounding valley. Shinji's class of twelve was the largest grouping of students and alone had its own classroom. The younger students, whose classes were smaller and only came in batches of six or seven, often split the other rooms in the school. It was hard to go unnoticed at lunch. Shinji Ikari somehow managed it.

As he had before his brief sojourn to Tokyo-3, the former Third Child ate his lunch in a small clearing near a wooded grove to the rear of the school building. It could be a tad buggy at times but no one else ever came there, and when he didn't feel like listening to his SDAT the bubbling of a creek that passed nearby was equally calming.

Today, however, Shinji Ikari found himself fascinated by a new development in his hideaway. Overlooking the creek, a large, leafy bush that had forever sat there looking dully green now sported fiery red blooms; it was an entirely unexpected change. Shinji thought it looked nice.

Settling down with his packed lunch, Shinji Ikari slipped on his headphones and started his SDAT player on Track 25. Listening to the first notes of the overture, he nibbled absentmindedly on his food. Truth be told, he wasn't too hungry. So Shinji set aside his bento box and laid down in the grass, content to waste his lunch period as he pleased.

The sun was high overhead and shone through a clearing in the treetops. Clouds occasionally obstructed the sun but for the most part the hot white light shone down on him.

Something moved overhead.

Squinting, Shinji shielded the sun from his eyes with a cupped hand. When that didn't work he closed one eye and blocked out the sun over the other with a thumb. What he saw brought a smile to his face.

Nine dark shapes were circling around the sun. Hawks, Shinji decided, not that he could make out anything beside their basic shapes at this distance.

_Hold on, aren't hawks territorial or something? Why would a bunch of them be circling together like that?_

The former Third Child frowned. Standing up, he took a closer look at the nine dark shapes. They were long, skinny things with wide wingspans. Beyond that he still couldn't make out any specifics. In their claws they all clutched something. Sticks for nests, maybe? Shinji couldn't see what exactly it was.

_Wait,_ he realized, _only eight of them have it._

A crash of songbirds nearby drew Shinji's attention away from the overhead sky. He looked around to see if someone had come to disturb his lunch, but everywhere he looked there was nobo-

Shinji Ikari froze.

_"Rei?"_

The First Child, half hidden behind the red bush, stared back at him.

"Ikari!"

Shinji turned to look at the source of the voice on instinct. The bobbing ponytail and lankiness of the girl running towards him told Shinji that it was Kaede Chiba. Like him, she was an only child. Other than that he couldn't say much about her. The two had never really talked in all the years they'd been in school together.

The former Eva pilot looked back towards the flowering bush. No one was there. He looked overhead. The hawks were gone too.

"Earth to Ikari!" she shouted. "What the hell? Didn't you hear the sirens? We've been looking all over for you! The teachers are freaking!"

He frowned. "Why?"

"Because," she said, leaning against a nearby tree to catch her breath, "there's some big emergency going on! We have to get to shelter RIGHT NOW!"

"W-what?" he sputtered, thrown for a loop. "But the Angels shouldn't be h-"

He stopped, realizing what he had let slip. He stared at Kaede, waiting for her to ask him to explain his odd reference. However, because of her exhaustion or her worry over the alert, the mention of 'Angels' slipped past her.

"What are you waiting for?! Come ON!"

With one last glance back towards the lonely bush, Shinji followed his classmate's lead to the valley's civil defense shelter.

* * *

Misato Katsuragi, clad in a radiation suit, checked her rigging for the _nth_ time. The whole setup had been quickly attached to Unit-01 in order to provide extra safety for Misato's improvised plan to deal with the Jet Alone emergency.

Or at least that's what everyone else was being told. Ritsuko had come up with the schematics days ago. The secrecy of the plan meant that Misato had had to practice with the rigging in an isolated room in the depths of Terminal Dogma. Of course, all those practice runs hadn't been down thousands of meters in the air, speeding over a devastated landscape.

"Target in sight," Hyuga announced in her earpiece.

And it was. She could see the JA marching in a line straight across the countryside. It looked very small from so far up.

_Sachiel would have beaten the crap out of it,_ she reminded herself.

"Eva has reached the drop point."

_Shamshel would have sliced it to ribbons._

"Release docking clamps!" Misato ordered into the radio. "Go! Go!"

_Ramiel would have blown it away from a distance. Radioactivity would have been spread across the countryside in every case. Remember Antarctica. Remember Dad. Keep you eyes on the prize, Misato. That Ito guy's leg getting snapped under falling rubble was just a necessary cost in the war. He'll heal. It's hard to heal from a Third Impact._

_Fuck, I hate heights._

Rei Ayanami's voice was calm and collected. "Roger."

The Eva sliiid out from under the Delta Wing and fell to earth. Misato managed not to scream.

* * *

Shinji Ikari found himself in the odd position of knowing far more than everyone else around him. In the valley's civil defense shelter, a holdover from the post-Impact days of the explosive weather storms that raged across Japan circa 2001 and 2002 when the planet first adjusted to its new axis, the collected citizenry were huddled around a television, chattering away as startling (to them) news filtered through.

Onscreen, the national news was replaying footage of a slim purple mecha Eva Unit-01 and its confrontation with a beige wedge-shaped mecha called _Jet Alone_. According to the Prime Minister's news conference, the privately built war machine had gone haywire during a demonstration test and nearly irradiated the countryside. Shinji's hometown would have been polluted with fallout had the reactor gone critical.

While most of the news focused on the JA negatively so little was made of the Eva save for the Prime Minster thanking NERV for its assistance in the crisis. Shinji figured it was a media blackout. Tokyo-3's news had been similarly filtered. That didn't stop the people in the civil defense shelter from speculating on the crumbs of information given to them about the Eva.

"Wow, a real giant mecha!"

"Why's it purple? That's not very manly."

"Is it one of those Angel things?"

"Angels?

"That's the damn emergency?"

"Who the fuck puts a nuclear reactor in a giant battle robot?"

"Language, Mister Narita!"

"So there are two robots? Do ya think the one's from Tokyo-3?"

"Yeah, that's where that NERV place is based, right?"

"That's only a rumor."

"Whoever they got piloting that monster must be one bad dude."

"Hey, didn't you just come back from Tokoy-3?"

"Jet Alone nice name. Asking to be bitch-slapped by karma, but nice name."

"Shinji?"

The former Eva pilot tore his eyes away from the still frames of Unit-01 flashing across the TV. Toshi Oshiro, a short boy from his class, was talking to him. "You just got back from Tokyo-3, right?"

"Y-yeah."

A few more random people filtered over.

"You know anything about these mechas?" asked an elementary teacher whose name escaped Shinji.

"No," he replied, "I never heard of anything like them when I was there. I was just visiting my father." _Who heads the organization that built the Evas, including that purple one on TV. Oh, and I used to pilot._

"Oh. Damn. Okay."

Attention once again passed away from Shinji Ikari, leaving him just another face in the crowd. Except for Toshi, who glanced from the shelter's TV back towards Shinji.

"Pretty cool, though," said the tall boy, adjusting his glasses. "Wish I could pilot one of those things."

"It's not as glamorous as you'd think," he snapped without thinking, before adding as a save, "Probably."

"Yeah, but still how many people in the world would get to do it? It'd be like being an astronaut, only _better_." Toshi flicked a thumb towards the TV, which was showing a replay of Unit-01 standing in front of the Jet Alone and bringing the rampaging mecha to a halt. "I mean, the guy or guys piloting that thing? Just saved our lives. I wish I could thank him. Them. Whoever."

Shinji bit his lip. "How'd you know it wasn't a girl piloting?"

Toshi shrugged. "Still pretty heroic of her."

"yeah," admitted Shinji. "I suppose so."

* * *

.

**NOW**

.

* * *

Gendo listened to the report calmly, his chin resting on laced fingers.

"The stock prices of Nippon Heavy Industry Solidarity are in free-fall and the Jet Alone Project has been publicly disowned by its own creator. The JA should no longer pose a threat to our funding or support," declared Doctor Akagi.

"I see. And Unit-01?"

"The Eva's retrieval has been completed. There's no fear of radioactive contamination." She favored the woman to her right with a sly smile. "All thanks to your heroic actions, Captain."

Misato Katsuragi didn't rise to the bait. "Everything went according to the plan, sir."

"Good work. Both of you."

"Thank you, sir," the two women chorused.

"Doctor Akagi, I'll need your status report on the Mk. II Project by the end of the day." Misato's eyes flickered over to her friend. "You're dismissed." Gendo stayed perfectly still in his pose. "Captain Katsuragi, stay a moment."

Commander Ikari waited for Doctor Akagi to leave his office.

"Captain," he went straight to the point, "did this assignment cause you any moral difficulty?"

Misato Katsuragi held her poker face, debating internally on how to handle the question. Had Rei betrayed her trust? Had Ritsuko? _Shit_. "Yes, sir."

"If I may, what were your objections?"

"I joined NERV to kill the Angels, sir. Not to commit industrial espionage."

"I see."

Misato Katsuragi kept her gaze steady and fixed on Commander Ikari's face. From her standpoint in front of his desk she couldn't see his eyes. His tinted glasses were reflecting the room's light in a glare. Not only did it cover his face, it made it a tad hard to stare directly into the intense glow. As with many things about Commander Ikari, Misato decided that this was not happenstance.

_He's probably smirking at me behind those folded hands, too. The bastard. No wonder Shinji threw that punch. _

"Sir," she began, "I will do whatever it takes to ensure our success in the war against the Angels. Our enemies don't care about legalities. They aren't signatures to any treaties or conventions. They aren't even human."

"And your moral objections?" Gendo Ikari set down his hands on the desk and leaned back in his chair. If he had been smirking, he wasn't now. Misato could see his eyes too, though they were still unreadable. "Because you should know, Captain Katsuragi, that this will not be the last morally objectionable act NERV will call on you to commit in order to achieve victory over our enemies."

"Sir, as I've said before, we are dealing with the survival of the human race. Defeating the Angels should be our first, last, and only priority. If we do morally questionable things morally objectionable things at least there will still be a human race around a hundred years from now to debate our ethics."

"And what if the Angels aren't the only threat to humanity's survival?"

Misato frowned. "Sir?"

"Captain, why were the Evas built?"

"to destroy the Angels. Only the Evas can generate the necessary AT-Field." _That's why I just torpedoed a major corporation!_

"And what will happen to the Evas after all the Angels are destroyed?"

"I don't know, sir. However, if I had to hazard a guess, considering the cost of the Evas I imagine they would be continued to be deployed in the field as a return on the UN's investment, perhaps as a peace-keeping force of some sort under the UNCMF."

"You would be wrong," he replied. "_Very_ wrong."

"Then what will the Evas be used for, sir?"

Gendo adjusted his glasses. "Think about that question for now, Captain. _Privately._ I'll be asking you again soon."

"Sir-"

"There is one more matter before you are dismissed," he said, reaching into his desk and pulling out a thin red folder. Misato's heart sank at the sight of it. "I'm afraid that this assignment will be especially difficult for you because of the personal nature of it." He offered her the folder. "An intelligence agent operating under Japan's Interior Ministry will be arriving shortly in Tokyo-3. He is posing as a Special Inspector for NERV. Currently he is aboard _Over the Rainbow_, escorting his ward, the Second Child."

Misato snatched the red file out of the Commander's hands and opened it. "How the _hell_ could Section-2 let a spy get near Asuk oh my God."

"I hope you remember your lenient stance on morally objectionable actions, Captain." Gendo leaned forward, his glasses glinting once again in the light. "Your assignment with regards to Mister Kaji is as follows."

* * *

When he had found the telegram waiting from him on his desk fifteen days ago the day he had moved back into his uncle's house Shinji had ripped the piece of paper to shreds and tossed it aside. Now the former Eva pilot was on his knees, carefully searching his bedroom floor for the last remaining scrap he needed to reassemble the telegram.

_A-ha_, he thought, spotting a small curl of paper nestled between the back of his desk and the wall.

Plucking it from the dark space, Shinji Ikari smoothed the scrap out on his thigh and laid a piece of clear tape over the top of it. He then took the taped scrap and attached it to the rest of the reassembled telegram, completing it.

It read:

_If you decide to do the right thing. Father_

A telephone number and a coded string followed.

Reading the message still made him angry. But now

_damn it,_ he thought to himself, _what was that dream? Was I on a... a train? And what the hell was Rei doing by the bush? Am I going crazy?_

He stared at the taped-up paper in his hands.

_God, to do this? I have to be crazy. I should just put it away and forget about it._

Shinji went downstairs to the kitchen.

Wiping his sweaty palms on his pants, Shinji reached for the phone on the wall. There was a dial tone. He punched in the number listed on the reassembled telegram.

There was no ring. It was picked up instantly. "This is NERV Special Connections Office, how may I direct your call?"

"T-this is Shinji Ikari. I'd like to talk with my fa- with Commander Ikari."

"Authorization code?"

Shinji read off the string of nonsense on the telegram.

"One moment please."

A pause.

_Riiiing. Riiiing. Riiii-_click.

His father's voice was cool, "What do you want?"

Shinji opened his mouth but found his tongue was lost to him.

Father grew irritated. "If you're not going to say anything then you're just wasting my time."

"I saw Unit-01. On the news," he choked out.

"The operations of this organization are none of your concern. Not since you ran away."

"I I didn't run away. I left."

"Rhetorical nonsense spoken by a coward."

Shinji shut his eyes. "F-father, why do you have to be so cruel?"

* * *

"You're one to talk," he said, gesturing for silence from the newly arrived Fuyutsuki.

The older man mouthed, 'Shinji?'

Gendo nodded. "I tried to do right by you in a bad situation, Shinji," he said, "but you threw my feelings back in my face. How am I supposed to act?"

"_You_ lied to _me_!" crackled his son's voice, the earpiece announcing his shout loud enough for the Vice-Commander to hear. "You used me!"

"I freely admit I brought you to Tokyo-3 for the purpose of piloting Eva. That doesn't mean I didn't want to take advantage of the opportunity to correct our relationship."

His son snorted. "_Taking advantage_ is right."

Gendo paused for a moment, debating what tact to take in this unexpected conversation. In his heart he could sense that everything the Angel War, Rei, Instrumentality, Shinji's own future depended on what he said next.

"Fuck you," he told Shinji.

* * *

The Third Child was stunned at his father's curse. "W-what?"

"You heard me," cut the heated voice of his father. "I'm sick of your petty, cowardly, selfish whining. Yes, I used you to pilot Eva. Are you happy? While I'm at it, let me say _I'm sorry_ that I came hat in hand to rescue you from your pathetic life in the backwoods so you could help save the human race from extinction.

"_I'm sorry_ for not crippling, if not killing, Rei Ayanami by sending her into battle against the 3rd Angel and leaving NERV permanently short one pilot even if by some miracle she managed to win.

"And while we're at it_, I'm sorry_ piloting Eva was painful. After all, it's not like I _warned_ you beforehand that it would be hard or that you could die. It's not like I gave you a _choice_. It's not like I let you _leave_."

He paused. "Now you call me and you have the temerity to bleat about the unfairness of your life. You make me sick."

Shinji found himself at a loss for words.

"So fuck you."

* * *

The Vice-Commander goggled at Gendo. "**_Ikari_**," whispered Fuyutsuki urgently, "_what the hell are you doing?!_"

NERV's Commander thrust his free hand towards his friend in a shushing motion. The death glare that accompanied that gesture froze Kozo in his tracks.

"Y-y-you BASTARD!" screamed Shinji, his voice wet as Gendo suspected he was beginning to cry. "YOU abandoned me! YOU threw me away like I was trash! Like I was WORTHLESS! Where were you when I needed you?!"

"I had responsibilities."

"YOU WERE MY FATHER!"

"I had more important responsibilities."

_"BASTARD!! I HATE YOU!"_

Gendo smirked. "Finally, the truth comes out."

* * *

Shinji slumped against the dishwasher, his legs folding underneath him. He felt so hot. He felt like he was burning. Yet now the frantic energy that had driven him in the last few moments had deserted him. "I I I don't h-hate you," he whispered into the telephone, wiping his tears away with a free sleeve. "I'm sorry."

"No, no," came the serious, analytical voice of his father. "You aren't the sort to tell people hurtful lies just to satisfying your vindictiveness. You wear your heart on your sleeve. It's one of the things I like about you, Shinji. It reminds me of your mother."

""

"Now that we finally know exactly where each of us stands why don't we get down to why you called me? Have you finally decided to get over your selfishness and do the right thing by your mother's work? Or have"

His father's voice faded away as Shinji became fixated on the far wall of the tiny kitchen. There, running up along the battered door that led to the front room, was a series of tick marks in pencil. They were measurements, counting the centimeters of Shinji's growth over the years. His uncle had taken a measurement each month and dutiful marked the date against each little tick as they crept up alongside the doorframe. It was one of the few paternal things his uncle, who generally regarded him as a burden, had ever done for Shinji.

Would Father have done that for him if he hadn't thrown him away? What else had the two of them lost because of Father's coldness? Because he had chosen NERV and Ayanami over his own flesh and blood?

"You know," Shinji said in the phone, his tone flat but driven by something awakening deep within him, "since we're being _honest_ I guess I should tell you what I really think about you, Father."

"You've already made your feelings clear."

Shinji ignored his father. "I look at you and I think how lonely you must be. After mother died after you threw me away all you had left was your work."

"I had responsibilities."

"Well, _yeah_," he snarked. "What else would you have? It's not like anyone would want to be around you for fun."

His father sighed. "More childishness. You disappointment me."

"Really?" Shinji stood up. "Because I'm sure you disappointed Mother."

""

"I bet when she met you she thought, 'God, what loser' and took pity on you. I bet she knew that if she didn't help you out you'd end up alone for the rest of your life. I bet she never really loved you at all. I bet she j-"

His father cut him off. "I _sincerely_ advise you to stop talking."

He didn't listen. Shinji Ikari only wanted to make his father _hurt_ like he himself hurt. "How does it feel to know that nobody will ever love you like she did? That you lost the most important person in your life?"

"Shinji," Father snapped, his voice steeled with cold fury, "I'm warning you."

"You know, I'm glad Mother is dead," he said, his lips stretching into a familiar smirk, "because now I know you'll die alone."

* * *

Gendo Ikari breathed in and out for several seconds, his temples pounding as his son's poisonous words sank in. Kozo Fuyutsuki stood very still as he watched a look of pure hurt and hate pass over his friend's face.

"Well, Shinji," the Commander began, his tone as cold as the long-gone Antarctica ice sheet, "since we're being _honest_ with each other let me tell you why I really threw you awa-"

Before he could continue Kozo Fuyutsuki darted forward and grabbed hold of the phone with one hand and placed his other over Gendo's mouth. "_Don't_," was all he said.

The two men glared at each other.

Gendo reached up and with his free hand brushed away Fuyutsuki's grip. He brought the receiver back into position. "Will you pilot Eva? Yes or no?"

"Yes," said Shinji, "but I'm not doing it for you."

"I don't care _why_ you do it so long as you _do_ do it." He paused. When he spoke again his voice was more collected. "I'm glad we had this chance to take sight of each other, Shinji. It will be helpful when we interact in the future."

His son's clinical tone mirrored Gendo's own. "Do I take the train or will you send a transport?"

"I'll arrange a VTOL to arrive shortly. We need you back in Tokyo-3 as soon as possible. There is a clearing near your uncle's home. It will land there."

""

"Is that all?"

"Yes."

"Goodnight, Shin-"

The connection cut off on him.

* * *

Shinji Ikari kneeled over and vomited. After he had emptied his stomach the Third Child leaned over his own mess, dry heaving. Hot tears streamed down his face.

"Huh ugh ugh oh god. Oh my god."

When the shaking stopped Shinji cleaned up the kitchen floor. Then he went upstairs to his bedroom in his uncle's house for the second to last time in his life.

The packing didn't take long. He'd had practice.

* * *

Gendo Ikari set the phone down in its cradle.

"Ikari," said the other man flatly, "what was all that?"

"It was my plan."

"What? You're plan was to tell Shinji to fuck off?!" Fuyutsuki found his hands curling into tight fists. He struggled to control his voice level. "What sort of stupid, idiotic, boneheaded sort of plan is THAT?"

NERV's Commander was far calmer. "If I can't get him to love me, then it's better for him to outright hate me. At least then he won't get confused about conflicted emotions and make bad decisions." Gendo plucked a bottle of bourbon and a glass out of his desk. "Besides, he came crawling back just like I thought we would. He might not want praise from me anymore but he's still hungry for the approval of others all the same. Being a nobody cello player in the sticks isn't going to feed his hunger."

"Damn it, Ikari!" snapped Kozo. "You're supposed to be his father!"

"It's too late for me to be a father to Shinji," he said, pouring himself a drink. "I expected as much from the start."

"You used him!" raged Fuyutsuki. "You were handed a second chance at life and you didn't even really _try_ to be a father! You're just running away just like _your son_ from things that are too hard for y-"

Out of his uniform jacket, Gendo drew his sidearm.

Kozo Fuyutsuki stared down the barrel of the pistol. "Are you going to shoot me?"

Gendo drew out the following silence by taking a long, slow drink from his glass. When he was done he wiped his mouth on the uniform cuff of the hand holding the glass. "If you continue to talk out your ass as an authority on matters beyond your understanding then yes, Professor. My patience has a limit."

The elderly man shook his head in disgust. "My God, Ikari. What the hell happened to you?"

"Yui," he replied, his voice harsh and thick with pain.

""

Gendo waved the gun at the door. "Get out."

Kozo Fuyutsuki took one last look at his friend, then turned and walk towards the exit. He did so without concern, even with full knowledge of the gun pointed at his back, for he still knew the man standing behind him even if Gendo Ikari had lost himself.

When the double doors to his office shut, Gendo returned the pistol to its hostler.

_You were right about one thing, Shinji,_ he thought to himself. _I am going to die alone now._

Gendo Ikari finished his drink, then poured another.

* * *

It was nighttime. The Moon was fat overhead.

The VTOL touched down in the field, sending violent ripples through the tall grasses carpeting it. Shinji adjusted the strap on his duffle bag so that it didn't chafe as much. Next to him, resting on a dry patch of earth, his cello case stood at attention. No one else was with him. His uncle had made his own intention clear when he had caught Shinji slipping out the door as he himself came home for a long day at work. Words were then said between the two, though Shinji knew that their parting conversation hadn't had any real venom to it. No, he knew what that tasted like now.

A door on the VTOL opened, bathing Shinji in golden light. A pair of uniformed officers stepped off the craft and walked over to him. They promptly relieved him of his luggage and escorted Shinji to the VTOL. A few feet from the boarding staircase he caught sight of the other passenger aboard the craft.

"Hi," greeted Misato Katsuragi, offering him a hand up into the cabin. "I broke our kitchen."

Shinji blinked. "What?"

"Long story short, I tried to do a little cleaning. It went about as well as my cooking."

"Oh."

The two stared at each other.

Misato waved the hand she had been offering him, drawing attention back to it. "C'mon. This bird needs to fly."

Shinji took her hand.

As the VTOL pulled up from his old hometown, Shinji cast one last glance out the nearest window port at the porch light on his uncle's home. The rest of the house was dark. His uncle had gone to bed and as always had forgotten to turn off the light again.

_At least I won't have to be the one to change the bulb when it burns out. Stupid rusty fixture screws_

He pushed that old complaint out his mind and looked over to Captain Katsuragi. She was sitting across from him in the spacious cabin. "So," she said to him in that faux-casual tone of hers, "why'd you change you mind?"

"I realized I hate my father."

Misato Katsuragi blinked in shock at this unprompted confession. "Er, you do?"

Shinji nodded. "Yeah."

"Then why why are you coming back to work for him?"

"It's hard to explain." He wracked his heart for the right words. "I guess I came back because I need answers. About Father, Ayanami."

_Me._

Misato accepted his incomplete reply. "Shinji?"

"Yes, Misato?"

"Are you going to leave us again?"

_"You're a damn fool!" his uncle had hollered at him as he tugged his cello case away across the lawn. "And don't come back crying when he betrays your trust again! Because he will! Just like he did with Yui!"_

"If I did, where would I go?"

He turned his head and stared out the window next to him. The dark countryside swept past underneath, illuminated only by the waxing, nearly full Moon. The light of the VTOL's interior cabin ruined his night vision; he could only spot the outlines of the treetops the rest was black as pitch.

"I'll pilot Eva," he said. "I suppose it's the right thing to do." It was a lame statement, Shinji realized, but Misato let it slide. "I'm just not sure what I'll do after all the Angels are gone. I don't know where I'll go then. I mean, why would NERV need me to pilot Eva if there aren't any Angels left to fight?"

"That's a good question," said Misato, "but concentrate on beating the twelve remaining Angels. We'll worry about the future once we know we'll have one."

Shinji looked back at his guardian and found her unusually pensive. "Misato?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think we'll win?"

When she spoke, she talked to him like an adult. It was a nice change. "Nothing's certain in war. We can train you, outfit the Evas with everything but the kitchen sink, and if things get bad there's always the Nero Protocol and the SDS but yes, the Angels may win."

""

"But Shinji," she said, "the human race _dies_ if we just roll over. The Angels aren't interested in peace, only in our annihilation. They want to finish the job they started fifteen years ago. So we fight."

""

""

"So," Shinji said, "about the kitchen"

"Yeah?"

"I can at least still use the stove to cook, right? It's not like you could break that!"

Misato winced.

* * *

**# # # END**

* * *

**_Author's Notes: _**_Atta boy, Shinji. Embrace your inner Gendo-ness. See where it takes you._

_A lot of reviewers were theorizing that Shinji would join the JSSDF or SEELE against his dad. This isn't that kind of fic. Shinji's a fourteen year old who's pissed at his dad but really has no idea what he's in the middle of. For now he'll be pushed around by forces outside his control and not resist._

_Misato is playing a bigger role than I originally envisioned. I suppose it makes sense when you remember that the Gendo/Shinji relationship is the core of this fic Misato's really the bridge between their two worlds. She'll also be playing a much MUCH bigger role in the story than even Gendo is expecting._

_Speaking of the bearded bastard, he's screws aren't all that tight anymore. We'll be wading into that topic next chapter._

_Ritsuko's role is slowly starting to expand. You'll be seeing more of her in less of a Dr. Exposition role from here on out._

_Next chapter will officially bring Asuka into the fold. I seriously considered just hand waving the Gaghiel fight like they did in the manga it's almost as tired to reread as a Sachiel fight sequence. However, I think I've come up with a new spin on it that, as far as I know, hasn't been done in fanfic yet. At least not in anything I remember reading. _

_Next chapter will also be different. We'll be taking a close look at everyone's favorite redheaded and bearded menaces. Expect some serious shit to go down. _

_Oh, and there will be some Grade-A WAFF coming up soon. I think we could use some after all this angst. But not next chapter. God no._

**NEXT CHAPTER: The obligatory "Asuka Strikes!" remake**


	11. Asuka and the Ikaris

_Author's Note: This chapter – unlike the ones preceding and following it – is written in the First Person POV. I hope the change won't be too jarring for you, the reader, but I'm doing this for a good reason. More on that after the end of this chapter but for now sit back for something a little bit different…_

* * *

# # # presenting # # #

* * *

**TAKING SIGHTS**

**Chapter 10 – Asuka and the Ikaris**

**Written by: Lavanya Six**

**(please don't sue)**

* * *

# # # another installment in a continuing series # # #

* * *

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**Part I: Gendo Ikari**

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* * *

"Are you going to shoot me?"

It's a simple question, one that the old Professor buried inside Fuyutsuki uses as a bludgeon. The best teachers have a way of asking questions that makes the other person feel like a fool. The gun in my one hand suddenly feels heavy and odd. The glass of bourbon in my opposite hand feels as silly as a sock puppet. I shouldn't be holding these things. I shouldn't NEED to hold these things.

I can't tell Fuyutsuki any of that. I have to maintain control of the situation. "If you continue to talk out your ass as an authority on matters beyond your understanding..." I take a childish little pause "...then yes, Professor. My patience has a limit."

That's a lie. Not that I have limits; that my _patience_ has a limit.

I'm not sure if Fuyutsuki sees through my desperate ruse. He's disgusted, yes, but that was the intent of this improvised show. "My God, Ikari. What the hell happened to you?"

I almost laugh. I would laugh if the truth weren't so awful. How can he not see? How can he not understand? He's the last man on Earth who knows me in any meaningful way. Instead he's blind. "Yui," I say.

The Professor stares at me. I can't stand him staring at me. I need him out of the room. The shame of my weakness...

I gesture towards the door with my gun. "Get out."

He doesn't walk towards the door. He ambles. Casually. The prick.

He knows I won't shoot him.

I've never told anyone, not even Yui, just how much the Professor can get under my skin. Maybe it's because he's just a simple man. Brilliant in his own narrow way but _so_ limited. People of science often are. Naoko only had her mind and her body. Ritsuko has her mind and her insecurities. Yui, I now realize, eclipsed such limits. She was capable of anything. But Fuyutsuki? He lives comfortably within himself, content with those limitations.

Yet despite those limits he almost won Yui.

He could have had her if he'd fought. Do you know that one upon a time I was actually afraid of him talking her away? I just KNEW he could do it even though at the same time I KNEW he didn't have the balls to try. But he doesn't resent himself for his failure. He knows he wasn't the sort of man to win her so he finds contentment with the memories of his short time with her. I could never do that. I didn't do that. I had to have Yui. Always.

The doors close behind him.

There's no one left to make a fool of myself for, save myself. I don't need a gun to do that so I tuck it away.

The glass in my other hand is heavy. I can't set it down. I don't have a good reason to set it down.

In my whole life only one person has ever seen me for more than the man I show to the world. She's gone now, but when she was here she...

Bah. You're being sentimental, Gendo. The fact is that TWO people have seen through me. It makes sense that HE does, HE'S her son after all. It figures that HE would find the perfect words to use again me.

Shinji knows that I'm going to die alone.

* * *

I walk carefully back to my apartment, not letting my Section-2 detail see how much I've had to drink. I don't dare consume too much outside my private quarters, just enough to start the evening. SEELE has spies everywhere. With the upcoming conference in Berlin I can't afford to be seen as weak. I drink alone, in my kitchen, behind a locked door.

I am not weak. I do not drink to escape reality. I drink to control the dreams.

Tonight it doesn't work.

At some point I find myself in the bathroom, heaving sour liquor into the toilet like some frat boy who found out he just kissed a tranny. What a waste of good bourbon.

The dreams started fifty-nine days ago, the first night after my rebirth. No, rebirth is the wrong word. It implies a change, a catharsis of the spirit. I was not reborn into the past. I was _resurrected_.

They weren't bad at first. It was logical to expect some residual trauma from the events that led me to this place and time. Not just my death... there was Rei II's death; our near-miss with Unit-00's destroyed Core; the creeping invasion of ADAM into my body over those last weeks. I don't remember those first dreams, only that they were filled with blood and ash.

But ever since Shinji came to Tokyo-3 they've started coming more frequently, and, disturbingly, FAR more vividly. They've taken on a character that fills me with a nameless dread each time I lay down to rest. Since that confrontation with Shinji on the balcony I've had them every night. Drugs don't block them. Drinking only sometimes dulls them. Pathetically, Ritsuko's visits held them at bay. At least that's what I thought until she told me she'd caught me having multiple nightmares. Now I don't even have my little blonde placebo.

Worse, the power of the dreams is increasing.

It's becoming that I can't close my eyes with having one. I wish I could remember them. I can't ever hold onto the details, only some half-remembered fragments I scribbled down upon awakening in a bid to make sense of it all:

Shinji.

Screaming.

A... beach?

People clapping.

A folding chair.

Rei.

A tree.

Useless. All of it. Anyway, what would be the point in remembering more? I know what the dreams mean. I know what they're trying to tell me. See, I'm…

I'm losing my… my….

All these dreams? They're just the first cracks in my mind. All because of Yui. It always comes back to Yui.

The truth I can no longer ignore is that she's gone and she's never EVER coming back. I'll never see her again. Never hold her hand again. Never talk with her again. I won't even see her in whatever hell people like us go when we die. She's stuck in Unit-01 forever. Instrumentality via a controlled Third Impact was the only way I'd ever be able to get her soul out of Unit-01. The plan failed.

Of course, I was operating under the assumption she WANTED to get out of Unit-01. Silly me. If I had known she'd planned the whole thing from the start, that there was a reason for her to be in Unit-01, I might have done things differently.

Way to communicate, Yui.

Do I blame her? No. I understand why she did it. Her plan was beyond ambitious; it was noble. Would I have stopped her if I'd known ahead of time? Hell yes. I'd never have let her do it. Neither would have Fuyutsuki. We both loved her too much.

God, to know everything you gave yourself over to for the last decade was counterproductive – pointless even. Who could live with that?

Not Rei. Just look at her. She's more my child than Yui's despite the lack of genetic contribution on my part. Once I removed Rei's driving purpose she decided the best thing to do was to off herself.

I can empathize.

So my dreams? They're just unresolved emotions and bits of guilt starting to eat away at my unconscious mind; in other words, useless crap. All those years of honing my self-control are the only thing keeping me together.

But once this is all over?

Once I kill Keel and stop Third Impact forever?

I look into the bathroom mirror – sharp chin, neat beard, thin eyebrows, trail of vomit at the corner of my lips – and still see myself.

It's still me.

I'm still all here.

For now.

* * *

Fuyutsuki says nothing about the incident when he steps into my office the next morning.

"The Third Child?" I ask.

"The retrieval went as planned. Captain Katsuragi reports that he has settled back into her residence with no problems. Per the Captain's recommendation I've authorized her to let the boy reenter school today and to hold off on the synch testing until this evening in the interest of strengthening his social ties to Tokyo-3."

"And his mental stability?"

The old man's left eyebrow wiggles. He wants to say something about my choice of wording. He doesn't. "She gives him a conditional pass. Apparently he seems resigned to piloting Eva. It's not ideal b-"

"-but life never is."

I leave the bottle in my desk that day.

* * *

Shinji synchs at 41.1 percent. Doctor Akagi conveys my displeasure.

The dreams come again. This time I'm in an empty theater, calling out for Yui, when the world cracks like glass around me.

The bottle comes out before bed the next night. It helps a little.

* * *

A few days later I'm in Terminal Dogma staring at NERV's newest abomination.

"The Dummies are prepared for First Stage processing," explains Dr. Akagi, her eyes carefully avoiding the carefree faces of the spare parts floating in the LCL tank. "We just require an additional component for that."

I look at them, the soulless things. They laugh faintly at me. "And what about the Mark Ones? How long until they enter Third Stage processing?"

"Barring complications, six weeks."

Since Ireul won't be disturbing our production schedule that would put Dummy Plug's completion date one month ahead of the date in the original timeline; plenty of time to refine it properly. "That will suffice," I grunt. "Good work."

I can tell she's pleased. The Dummy Plug meant a great deal to Dr. Akagi on a personal level. Its abject failure went a long way to her mental breakdown.

One of the things floating in the tank smiles at me. It's an involuntary muscle reaction. Nothing more.

"The Chamber of Gaf is empty," I whisper.

"Commander?"

I glance over at Ritsuko. "Nothing, Doctor. Carry on."

I leave.

* * *

Later that evening we see each other for the first time since our telephone conversation.

Fuyutsuki and I are in the Fourth Cage, inspecting the armor upgrades on Unit-00. At the same time, on the walkway running parallel to us below, Captain Katsuragi is escorting her two charges back from a synch test. Shinji is talking with Rei, who is actually paying attention to him and not just listening. He's smiling. Captain Katsuragi laughs.

They look like a family.

Then he spots me standing above.

Our eyes meet.

_"This is my Father's work?"_

_"That is correct," I say, announcing myself. Shinji jerks his head up to look at me. There's a hunger for love in his eyes. I relax. I know this will work now. "It's been a long time."_

Shinji's smile dies.

My gloved hands tense ever-so-slightly on the walkway railing.

Quickly, before his two companions realize anything is wrong, he bows his head and hurries along to catch up with them. It's comforting, his reaction. In a world that is both familiar yet in flux Shinji's continued inability to confront me face-to-face is as comforting as my customary lunch of chicken and rice.

I turn to Fuyutsuki. "Order Lt. Ibuki to supervise the installation of the pauldrons. We had trouble with their power interface last time."

* * *

Once I relaxed by rereading passages of the Dead Sea Scrolls, scanning them long into the night in hopes that I'd gain some key insight into their signs and portents. Now I turn the lights off in my office, pour a drink, and review the footage from the spy cameras I had installed in Katsuragi's apartment.

It's fairly uninteresting material, consisting mostly of the Captain feeding her addiction, Rei sitting alone in her room reading, and Shinji being boring.

My son's chronic weakness is a fear of being hurt and rejected by others. As a defense mechanism he acts as inoffensively as possible, bending to the wills of everyone around him in a bid to gain their approval. As a tool it makes him easily controllable. As reality television it makes him a cure for insomnia.

Tonight, happily, the footage shows that Shinji brought a friend over after school - a girl, no less. I kick my feet off my desk and lean over the computer monitor, attentive to this intriguing development. What follows is sadly platonic.

Shinji and the Horaki girl sit at the kitchen table and work on a school project. That's it. No flirting. No subtext. Nothing. At least not on Shinji's part. The pig-tailed girl makes some flustered, clumsy attempts at catching his attention.

"Here. Let me make the tea. I'd like to."

"No, no," insists Shinji, playing the dutiful host. "It's fine. I can do it."

"But I'd like to make it."

I snort at the whine tingeing her voice. Her feelings are as apparent as a shot from a flare gun at midnight. Shinji, however, doesn't have the experience and perhaps not the interest to hear it.

"It's alright," he sighs. "I can do it."

I rewind the segment to watch it again. As it plays through I nearly choke on my drink as a new idea comes unbidden to me: in the closing days of the original timeline Section-2 had reported that the boy had spent nearly all his time with the Fifth Child.

Had it been more than a desperate friendship?

He had lived with two physically attractive females, one of whom was his own age, with no reported incidents for nearly a year. Granted, Shinji was a coward who shirked from human contact, but still.

And had been rather upset about the Suzahara boy. Had there been... _something_... there?

"Hmm."

* * *

_(Shinji whimpers as he strangles the girl under him.)_

_("Did you know my cat died?")_

_(Unit-01, feral and demonic, grins as it hold me in its hand.)_

_(Yui smiles. "You aren't half as clever as you think, Mr. Rokubungi." And with that she pours her cup of beer over my head, much to the amusement of everyone standing around us at the party.)_

_(That GODDAMNED child! WHY, why NOW of all times does he grow a spine? Isn't he thinking at all?! "It's better than the current pilot!" I shout at Lt. Ibuki. "Now DO IT!")_

_(I grin at her sideswipe. Yui looks fantastic in that lab coat of hers. "Why, yes, you _could_ go have that drink with the Professor like you planned. He certainly has eyes for you." She laughs, brushing off the uncomfortable truth. "Or you could skip your date and go do shots with me at Nana's.")_

_("I'm sorry, Shinji." And then Unit-01 bites down.)_

_("It was sick and now I'll never see it again.")_

_(The girl's neck snaps.)_

_._

_(There was a TREE and he was wearing a horrible t-_

.

.

"Ikari?"

I blink away the sleep. My body is slow to respond. I feel feverish. There's a board between Fuyutsuki and me.

Ah. Yes. We were playing Go.

"Professor," I say, "do be more prompt when you consider your moves in the future or else I'll keep finding better things to do with me time."

That merits a smile from the old man. His eyes tell a different story. Fuyutsuki never learned to lie with his eyes.

"Of course," he replies.

I still pull out a win but it's too near a thing for my comfort.

* * *

Looking back I've come to the conclusion that it all fell apart with the 13th Angel.

Before the 13th Angel everything hung together. Akagi had faith in her capabilities as a scientist. Shinji piloted with no real qualms aside from his characteristic weaknesses. The Second Child still maintained her fragile ego with the foolish notion that she was the 'best' pilot, this despite her clear lack of Angel kills compared to the Third. Still, at least then she could still synch with Unit-02 and contribute to Shinji's efforts.

But then the 13th Angel came and it all started going to hell.

I have to admit... I hated Shinji for the 13th Angel. He disobeyed orders, then suddenly grew a conscious about fighting. As if it mattered the possessed Unit-03 had a pilot aboard! It was an enemy, an Angel! It had taken out two Evas in under sixty seconds, attempted to infect Unit-00, and had mostly destroyed NERV's facilities at Matsushiro. For all Shinji knew the 13th Angel had killed Major Katsuragi – and he still refused to fight! Instead he moaned about not wanting to kill a human being.

As if he hadn't killed human beings before.

In the entirety of the original timeline's Angel War the Evangelions were indirectly responsible for the deaths of approximately sixteen thousand souls. Most of those belonged to the loss of part of the Pacific Fleet against the 6th Angel or to the self-destruction of Unit-00 against the 16th Angel. But Shinji had nearly a thousand kills on that tally, mostly from not entirely evacuated building destroyed during the early Angel encounters. It was a body count NERV withheld to protect his and the Soryu girl's mental states.

That proved to be a mistake when the 13th Angel came.

Perhaps if Shinji had had a bit of blood on his hands he wouldn't have been so squeamish about doing his job, even if he might possibly have held other feelings for Unit-03's pilot. But we didn't tell him and he didn't fight. The 13th Angel tried to kill him and Yui. It would have gone on to kill us all.

So I ordered the Dummy Plug activated.

What happened next was meant as a lesson: putting morality before necessity has a terrible price. It was a lesson that Yui and I understood in 2000 AD. I think Shinji understood after the 13th Angel.

After all, he did kill the 17th.

* * *

I take the cigarette from Ritsuko, careful not to tip hot ash on her bare chest. We're not doing anything kinky tonight.

She frowns at my previous question. "Gay? Shinji?"

"No, Bi-curious. Although the evidence is inconclusive," I say, taking a drag. I hate smoking in bed but Ritsuko's habits had rubbed off on me over the years. The fact that she sees it as 'changing' me must give a boost to her empty-headed hopes of there being something more between us. "However I have my suspicions."

"Huh." She pauses, thinking it over. "I suppose it's possible. It would explain a few things." I hand her back the smoke. "Not that there's anything wrong with that."

"Obviously."

Ritsuko fidgets. "Of course he might just have not have hit puberty yet. Probably for the best considering his roomm-" She freezes.

"I've given Rei specific orders not to involve herself sexually or romantically with the Third Child."

"O-of course."

Shit. She's doing that thing she does whenever I mention Rei when we're in bed together. There isn't going to be a Round 4 tonight now, and if I don't do a little magic with my silver tongue she's going to leave in a huff and leave me alone with my nightmares.

"Jealousy of a man's daughter isn't very rational, Ritsuko."

Note I never said I didn't want her to leave in a huff.

Ritsuko gags on her cigarette. Odd. I thought she'd learned to suppress that reflex by now. "D-daughter?"

I shrug. She stares at me. I suppose she wants an explanation. "I'm not having her live with the Third for security purposes."

The questions dance in her eyes. At that moment she looks so like her mother but like her mother she won't push the boundaries. She knows there are limits to our relationship.

"I think it would be best if you slept at home tonight," I say, getting up to make my way to the bathroom. "You'll need to be well rested to oversee Unit-02 after its arrival tomorrow."

I use the bathroom. By the time I come back to the bedroom she's gone.

* * *

Captain Katsuragi's voice crackles over the speakerphone, "I'll keep you updated should conditions change, sir."

I'm livid. Fuyutsuki glumly dismisses the Captain.

The line goes dead.

"Well," says the Vice-Commander, "this complicates matters."

I glare at him. He has the decency to shrink back. I'm in no mood for even a HINT of humor at this news.

Goddamn it! The _weather_?! How did I miss the fucking _weather_?! What an amateur screw-up! I should have had Katsuragi transport the umbilical cable to Sasebo while the fleet was re-supplying. Now because some damn tropical storm suddenly veers south instead of north all our heavy transports are grounded. There's no way to helicopter a cable to the Over the Rainbow in the time remaining. Unit-02... the plan... is going to be FU-

Breathe.

...okay. Nobody's dead yet. I can still fix this mess.

Fuyutsuki dithers as usual, making excuses for things that aren't his fault. "The ripples from changing history are just starting to affect events on a macro-level. You couldn't have anticipated th-"

I hold up a hand to silence him. I'm not in the mood. "Don't. Whatever the reason it's still a mistake. All that matters now is securing ADAM and preserving Unit-02, and, if possible, its pilot."

"You have a plan."

It's a statement, not a question. Of course I have a plan. I'm me. The problem is that any moron can have a plan, that doesn't make it a _good_ plan. Just look at Shoko Asahara: the man got shit done but for what meaningful end? "You will contact Inspector Kaji and tell him to immediately send the Second Child to Unit-02's cargo transport. If he asks for an explanation tell him that NERV suspects Unit-02 may possibly attract an Angel. So far all the Angels have approached from that area of the Pacific Ocean and we don't want to hazard the risk of losing Unit-02."

"Will he buy that?"

"No, but it will get the Second into the Entry Plug. Mister Kaji is smart enough to know what we really mean."

"I'll see to it immediately."

"Good," I say, and reach into my desk as Kozo reaches for the desk phone.

Fuyutsuki eyes the bottle and glass I pull out. "It's a little early to start the day."

I halt mid-pour to glare darkly at the old man. "Are you insinuating something, Vice-Commander?"

"Yes," he says.

It's hardly early in the morning for me. When you run a global paramilitary agency with braches on every civilized continent left on Earth you don't get to sleep on a normal schedule. I've only been up for... damn. Did I take that nap this morning or yesterday afternoon? It all runs together after a while. I know I'm due for some rest, it's going to be a long day otherwise, and to do that I need to chase away the dreams.

"Your concern is touching," I was going to offer him a glass but instead I replace the bottle's stopper. "However, this is one matter I _do_ have under my control."

The drink goes down easy.

* * *

The call comes in three hours later. It stirs me from the catnap I was taking lounging in my desk chair. The dream I was having slips through my fingers.

I rub my eyes as I pick up the phone. Everything's bleary. I reach for my glasses and slide them back on. "Report."

"Sir," quietly says Captain Katsuragi, "we've just learned that an Angel attacked the fleet transporting Unit-02."

Attacked. Past tense. "The Angel was destroyed?"

"Yes, sir."

"And Unit-02?"

"The Eva was recovered following the completion of the engagement." She pauses. "Sir, there's more."

The Second Child. Damn it. "What?"

She explains. By the end of it I need another drink.

.

* * *

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**Part II: Asuka Langley Soryu**

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* * *

_Once upon a time there was this little girl and her mama. _

_The little girl loved her mama and knew that she would always be there for her even if the mama had to go away to work a lot. That was okay though since the girl knew her mama still loved her just like her papa loved her. They were a family and they were happy._

_And then one day the little girl's mama didn't come home from work._

_Nobody told the little girl why her mama was gone, only that she couldn't come home because she was sick (though they said she really wanted to come home). When the people around her thought the little girl wasn't listening they used words like "accident" and "trauma" and "mental contamination". The little girl, despite being very bright for her age, didn't really know what these words meant. She just knew that her mama was sick and that she missed her mama a lot. The little girl grew sad and cried a lot._

_Then one day the girl's papa took her to visit her mama..._

* * *

The voice calling my name pulls me out of my sleep but I'm still in a twilight. I keep my eyes shut and play dead.

"Asuka, don't think that works on me."

I crack one eye open. The cabin is far, far too bright. The man leaning over me is a nice sight, though. "It's too early, Kaji." I close my eye and keep still wrapped in my warm sheets, hoping his vision is movement-based. I have no such luck.

"Actually, you've overslept. It's nine in the morning, Tokyo Time. You need to start adjusting your circadian rhythms."

"Clock, schmock." I pull the standard naval-issue blankets up closer around my chin.

"The Commander's orders were quite specific."

Life if governed by two opposing forces always in tension: the need stay the same (sleep in) and the need to change (flirt with Kaji). Guess which one wins. "Did his orders say anything about waking up a woman sleeping only in her panties?"

"Your left leg is hanging off the bed, Asuka. I can see your pajama bottom."

Drat. "Want to see more?"

"Asuka?"

"Yeeees?"

"I knew how hard it would be to get you out of bed so I brought you a present."

A present? I open my eyes and spot my 'present' in Kaji's right hand. It's not what I'd like to open my eyes to find him holding in his right hand, by the way. It's a spray bottle filled with water. Kaji must have raided my hair and make-up bag.

"Don't. You. Dare."

"Last chance," he warns, jiggling the bottle.

I glare at him down, making it clear what will happen if he actually d-

Kaji sprays me in the face with cold water.

"Ack!" Fucker! "I'm not a disobedient cat, Kaji!" I dart under the covers.

"No, you're a young woman who needs to get up."

"Spray me again and I'll make sure you'll never be able to consummate anything with me!"

"Hmmm. I'll just have to take that risk." And with that he whips off the covers. "Asuk- JESUS!"

The spray bottle clatters to the floor as he springs back, turning his head away.

Heh. "Kaji, dear," I say, sitting up in bed, "just because you see a pajama bottom doesn't necessarily entail a pajama top."

"Joke's on you," he says, still not taking the opportunity to survey the landscape. "You're awake."

"Crap. I am, aren't I?" I frown, then a thought occurs to me. "Oh," I stand up and stretch, "_ugggh_... well." Something pops in my spine. "Say, could you hand me that sports bra on the desk chair?"

He tosses it back to me without looking. He TOTALLY whiffs on his aim but I still nab it as it sails just inside my reach. I'm in the 99.5 percentile of hand-eye coordination for people under twenty-one. That's ten years of training to perfection for you. "Thanks." Unprompted, Kaji tosses a black t-shirt at me. It's emblazoned with the word 'BERLIN' in big red blocky letters across the chest. When I finish dressing I give him the okay to look.

"Damn it, Asuka," he says, reaching for his pack of smokes. "Stop doing that to me."

"Hey, I just want to sleep the way I like while I can. I'm going to be living with a bunch of perverts soon, you know."

"Katsuragi is hardly a pervert," he grins slyly. I just HATE it when grins like that. He only does that when he talks about HER. He never grins like that for ME.

"Humph," I huff. "Obviously you never lived with her. That woman was a walking disaster!"

I've had a lot of guardians assigned to me by NERV over the years. Only two of them have lasted more than four months: Misato and Kaji. The thirteen months I lived with Misato weren't all that bad; well, aside from any time I had to get into a car she was driving. I also had to do all the goddamn chores around the apartment because she couldn't lift a finger after indulging in her nightly Oktoberfest. Still, she treated me like a woman and not a kid. She also knew how to have fun when she wasn't being a drunken whore. I've been with Kaji for almost a year and a half now. It's been like being with Misato, minus the bad habits, with extra 'benefits'.

Well, theoretically there are extra benefits with Kaji. I'm still working on them.

"Besides," I hop over to one of my many suitcases and dig out the yellow dress I've been saving for this day, my arrival in Japan, "there's always the Third Child to grab my ass. If you ask me, he's got a few bolts loose."

"With his father? Not surprising."

I lay the dress out on my bed for later. "Sounds like a piece of work."

"Let's just say I wasn't too surprised when Shinji bolted," says Kaji, tipping a bit of ash off his cigarette. I frown at him. He knows I don't like it when he doesn't use an ashtray. "Sorry," he mumbles, chastened. "You don't become Supreme Commander of NERV by being a nice guy."

I step into my cabin's private bathroom. It's painfully small but it's a VIP luxury on a ship like this one. I keep the door open. Kaji, sadly, doesn't follow me in to surprise me with another present. I put on a little show as I strip out of my clothes. I think of it as practice for when he doesn't let things like walls get between us. "You ever meet him?"

"No, I never met the man. He's supposed to be very reclusive. Aside from conferences abroad rumor has it that he never leaves NERV HQ. And even then he delegates most of the day-to-day operations to the department heads and the Vice-Commander."

I test the water. It's not hot enough. I turn the knob. "Freaky," I call back. "Think he collects jars of his own urine?"

"My, what a lovely image, Asuka."

I have a lovely image of my own in mind as I step into the shower. It's one where he smiles slyly when he hears my name and not hers.

* * *

_The hospital wasn't like anything the girl had ever been in before. It wasn't like the time her papa had broken his arm falling off a ladder and the whole family had to rush to the emergency room where doctors and nurses and bleeding people buzzed all around. This hospital was quiet, like a church, and all the doctors wore clean white lab coats. This place, as the little girl soon learned, was a sigh-kee-at-trick hospital. _

_Before... before we talk about what happened next I want to remind you of something. The little girl loved her mama and had missed her terribly since "the accident". The little girl didn't know what "the accident" was save that it meant her mama couldn't come home since she was so sick. The little girl had asked to be told what happened to her mama. The little girl's papa wouldn't say. The little girl pleaded, then begged to be told what happened to her mama. It was very pathetic. Yet all her papa would say was that her mama was very sick._

_**"The little girl must have loved her mama a lot."**_

_Yes._

_**"What happened next?"**_

_The little girl visited her mama and met her mama's new little girl._

* * *

"An alert?"

"It's a precautionary measure," says Kaji, locking my cabin door. "All three of the Angels that have attacked Tokyo-3 have come from this region, or hereabouts in the Pacific."

We walk.

Kaji, like a good gentleman, gestures for me to go first up the stairs. "I called ahead," he says behind me as he follows me upstairs. "The nerd patrol is prepping Unit-02 for an emergency start-up."

"Why bother? I can do it myself."

"Well," says Kaji conspiratorially, "I had a little idea about how to connect Unit-02 to the fleet's computer network. It's nothing too illegal."

"Like downloading music illegal or downloading child porn illegal?"

"Let's just say we shouldn't get caught."

Soon we're on the deck. The air is whipping all around. The sky is overcast. Smells like its going to rain. There's no helicopter or VTOL waiting. I'll have to talk a boat over. Great. "I get all dressed up and there's no Misato to impress."

"I know the feeling." He loosens his red tie. "I put on my good pants and there's no one to take them off for."

"Really? No one?"

"Er… look! The boat's here. Good luck."

I frown. "You're not coming?"

He gestures to the suitcase chained to his wrist. "Gotta baby-sit this thing; can't take it off the _Rainbow _or let it leave my peepers."

"Whatever." I hope to the walkway down. "Later, Kaji."

* * *

_The little girl visited her mama alone. Her papa was a coward and waited outside._

_The little girl's mama was in a bed in a clean white room. The mama's hair had grown long and needed to be washed. The mama's neat red nails, which the little girl had always helped to paint, were bare and they had been trimmed practically to the bone. And, strangest of all, the mama cradled a stuffed doll in her arms like a baby. The doll had red hair, just like the little girl. _

_Still, despite all the oddities, the little girl was happy. She was with her mother again. The little girl sprang to her mama's bedside and started telling her how much she had missed her._

_Then her mama looked up from the doll and broke the little girl's heart. The mama asked the little girl:_

_'Mama'? Who _are_ you?_

* * *

One of the benefits of working for NERV is that everyone asks "How high?" when you order them to jump; the trip to the Othello doesn't take long. I'm not thrilled with all the salt water sprayed onto me on the way over. It feels good on a hot, sunny day but today is anything but. The sky is overcast from horizon to horizon with dark, lumpy clouds. To the west I can see a thin film of grease between the black sea and grey sky; its rain and we're sailing into it. Wonderful.

Anna Somethingsomething, one of the half dozen NERV techs detached to fleet to monitor Unit-02 in transit, greets me as I bound up the walkway to the deck. Nice woman, if a bit stiff. She could stand to lose a few pounds. I feel vaguely guilty that I don't remember her surname, especially when she always calls me by mine. "Soryu," she says, "Unit-02 is prepped for activation. Horatio and Lutz are double-checking everything to be safe, though."

Horatio? He's the guy with nine fingers, right? "Great," I reply. "Do you have it?"

She opens a door for me. "Upstairs, second room on the left. Thought you'd want someplace private to change."

I nod and head up.

Unit-02 doesn't need the techs to prep and activate it. I could do that by myself in an emergency. Kaji, however, whipped the NERV detachment into gear since we're on alert. Precautionary and probably unnecessary but still a good tactic.

When I'm done I hand the backpack containing my yellow sundress, underwear, and red shoes to Lt. Somethingsomething who's waiting outside. "No problems?"

"No," I say as I flex my right hand. The synthetic material of my plug suit stretches with barely a sound. Shy of some billionaire's trophy wife's bling-ridden wedding gown, the Mark 3.5r plug suit is one of the most expensive pieces of clothing in the world. It contains a host of life-support systems, injectable medicines, and assorted sensors that would put an astronaut's space suit to shame, all wrapped in a skin-tight package. They weren't always this nice. I've been helping test out the progressive iterations of the plug suit since the clunky Mark 2.0a. In a sense the plug suit is made for me. Every other pilot has to have theirs tailored to fit. "It feels good."

We head down to the cargo hold.

The five other techs are scattered around the place, fiddling with laptops and other electronic crap. Nine-fingered Horatio, the nearest one, doesn't look up from his laptop as he addresses me. It's annoying but I suppose it's better than being ogled by a fat dude when I'm in my plug suit. "Unit-02 is prepped for activation," he says in that nasally-accented German of his. "Both external battery packs are online. In the event of an enemy engagement you'll have twenty minutes of power in minimum-gain mode and five minutes of power at full gain. Do you understand?"

Idiot! Who does he think that I am? "I know that already! It's _my_ Eva!"

"Just checking," Horatio replies flatly. He closes his laptop. "Now we wait."

The techs just stand there, unsure of what to do. In the tented cargo bay they look like fleas next to the cradled form of my Unit-02. The only sounds are the gentle sloshing of the pink coolant in the bottom of the bay and the groan of the ship as it crests a swell in the seas. No one wants to break the social awkwardness of the seven minute lull.

Well, except me. "Anyone got a deck of cards?"

* * *

_Time passed. _

_The little girl's mama stayed in the hospital with her doll. She didn't get any better._

_The little girl still visited her mama, begging and pleading for her mama to remember her. Instead all the mama did was talk to the doll, telling it how 'that strange girl over there' was watching them and how 'that strange girl over there' was jealous of the doll. After a while the little girl just stood in the doorway and watched her mama love her new little girl, the doll._

_The little girl's papa, meanwhile, found a new mama for the little girl. But the little girl didn't like the new mama and the new mama didn't like the little girl. _

_O...one... one day..._

_**"Do you need to stop?"**_

_No._

_Anyway, one day the little girl's real mama asked her new daughter, the doll, to… to _die_ with her. The little girl pleaded, begged, and cried to let _her_ be the one to die with mama. You see, the little girl would have done anything for her mama to be her mother again. But the little girl's mama didn't want _her_ to die with her; she wanted to die with the _doll_._

_And then just when the world seemed completely sad and lonely for the little girl something amazing happened that seemed to set everything wrong to right._

_The little girl got a doll of her own._

* * *

"I win again! Ha!"

I reach out and scoop up the mix of euros, dollars, and yen bills piled loosely on the floor. The rest of the techs are alternating between embarrassment at getting hustled by someone they see as just another fourteen year old (fools) and anger at losing the last of their petty cash.

Nine-fingered Horatio, however, is unfazed. "She's counting cards."

"Am not." Actually, I am. "And need I point out that those are fightin' words?"

"She has an eidetic memory," he tells the others. "I read it in her file."

Drat.

The others turn as one to look at me. "You flatter me. Really." I shake my head in mock amusement. My allowance from NERV sucks and I really want to treat myself to something nice when I get to Tokyo-3. I need this cash. "Did my _classified_ file mention that I have perfect pitch too? Or that I de-worm refugees in my spare time?"

I've always wanted perfect pitch. It seems like a neat talent to have. Oh well. I have to settle for my good looks, awesome memory, and ability to pilot Eva. The worm-ridden refugees of the world can go take a flying fuck.

Anna Somethingsomething frowns. "Why? She gets paid more than the rest of us put together."

"Not until she comes of age," pipes in one of the others, "then she'll get the big bucks from her trust fund. Until then they keep the kid on starvation wages."

"Kid?!" I exclaim. Why do people keep thinking that? I'm a young woman, damn it!

Our little pow-wow is interrupted when the ship lurches dangerously. The frame of the ship groans. If any of us had been standing I'm sure we'd have been knocked over.

"What was THAT?" asks Lt. Somethingsomething.

"Shockwave in the water," I say. "Something exploded!"

We all spring to our feet and race out of the cargo hold. Up on the starboard railing we search the surrounding waters for the source of the disturbance. Someone shouts "Look! There!" but we've all already spotted it.

Something BIG is surging along at fast speeds just below the surface of the water. Just as I put two and two together the white ripple smack into the broadside of one of the fleet's battleships. The battleship cracks in half, both sides lurch in the water for a second, and then the whole mess explodes in a brilliant red fireball. I reflexively close my eyes and turn away. The heat of the explosion caresses my left cheek even at this great distance. When I look back I see only a plume of black smoke where the ship used to be. The white ripple of the attacker continues on as if they ship hadn't been there.

An Angel! Yes!

"Come on!" I shout at the techs. "Let's kill that bastard!"

They stare dumbly at me.

"The Angel, you idiots!"

"B-b-but," stutters Horatio, "how are you going to fight it? You can't fight underwater in the B-Type equipment!"

Crap. Forgot about that. "Then I'll do it _above_ water."

"How?!"

"Gracefully."

* * *

_The little girl ran down the hallway of the hospital, as happy as she had ever been since her mama's "accident". You see, the little girl had been chosen to protect mankind as an elite pilot. People were nice to her again, and not that pity niceness that people had fed to her since her mama's "accident". But that wasn't why the girl was really happy. More than anything the little girl was happy because now she had a reason for her mama to look at her again, to see that _she, _not the doll, was the special girl that deserved her attention._

_The little girl opened the door to her mama's room and the first thing she saw was her mama's dangling feet._

_The next thing she saw was the dangling doll._

_Afterwards, the little girl's grandmother told her it was okay to cry. The little girl didn't want... didn't NEED to cry._

_All the little girl needed was four promises. _

_First she said, I'll think for myself! _

_Second she said, I'll live for myself! _

_Then she said, I won't rely on anyone! _

_And lastly she declared, I can live on my own!_

_**"Who did the little girl makes these promises to?"**_

_The only person who mattered._

_Herself._

* * *

"LCL Füllung. Anfang der Bewegung. Anfang des Nervenanschlusses. Auslöses von Links-kleidung. Synchro-start."

The Entry Plug explodes around me in swirls of colors. They're not real. It's just my conscious mind forcing a semblance of reality onto the machine data pouring into my brain via the A-10 interface. If Kaji were in the plug with me he'd only see a few HUD data holograms and the bare metal walls of the Entry Plug. At least that's what he'd see thirty seconds before the Eva microwaved his brain. There's a reason why they use us special people to pilot after all.

"Asuka," calls the voice of Lieutenant Somethingsomething over the comm, "you should be connected to DefNav. Well, at least until someone figures out Lutz hacked you into the system."

I check my HUD. A wireframe display unfolds over my field of vision. Unit-02 is now tied into the computerized defense network for the fleet. Though I can't physically see it with Unit-02 facedown in the Othello's cargo hold, the 6th Angel is visible through the ship's interior as an anomaly on the DefNav sonar data overlay. "It's online. I'm moving out!"

Anna left the comm open. Over it I can hear her shouting at the others to brace themselves.

Unit-02 stands up. I grab the prog knife adjacent to my Eva. With the external batteries loaded back in Germany as a safety precaution (Misato had a good idea – go figure) my only weapon had to be stored separately. Before I can even shuck off the protective canopy that Unit-02 is wrapped in my comm line explodes in anger as a new voice gets on. The 'AUDIO ONLY' pop-up on my HUD identifies the message as being transmitted from the _Over the Rainbow_'s CIC. The prim and proper attitude calls the speaker out as the Rainbow's finely mustached Captain. "Unit-02, stand down! You're not authorized to launch!"

"The hell I am! I'm the only thing that can damage that Angel's AT-Field!"

"What on Earth are you babbling about?!"

I glance sideways at my clock. Damn. I've already wasted twenty seconds of precious power in minimum gain mode. And I'll need to unfold my AT-Field soon if I want to hurt that damn fish. "I'm running on limited battery power, so shut up and follow MY orders! Start by clearing your flight deck!"

"What?! Why?!"

"Because-"

I switch Unit-02 to high-gain mode and leap high into the air.

"-I'm coming in for a landing!"

Well, not right away. I need to play hopscotch with a quarter of the fleet just to get over to the Rainbow. It's tricky but with all my skill and training I manage not to slip into the Pacific Ocean. I burn off a full minute of battery power on maximum gain mode just to do it. There's no alternative, though. I need to unfold my AT-Field every time I land and launch off one of the frigates or battleships. Otherwise they'll shatter under the force of Unit-02's leaps and I'll slip into the drink. I'm sure the crew of the ships appreciate that this also lets me not kill them in the process.

At last the _Rainbow_ is in sight. I leap one last time.

"UNIT TWO INBOUND!" I holler into the comm line to the _Rainbow_.

I land. My AT-Field soaks up most of the kinetic energy but the whole aircraft carrier still rocks dangerously under my feet.

"The target is approaching rapidly!" the captain shouts at me.

I -carefully- turn Unit-02 around to face the southeast. I don't need the DefNav on my HUD to tell me where the Angel is now. The bulge of churning white water surging towards the Rainbow is warning enough.

I whip out my prog knife and engage it. The ommmminous hummmmm of it is a pleasant thrill.

The Angel leaps out of the water at me.

It's big. REALLY big. "HOLY SH-"

We collide.

* * *

_And the girl lived happily ever after. The End._

_**"..."**_

_Did you like my story? I think it beats yours._

_**"Yes, it does," **says the woman,** "but it was very sad."**_

_Don't feel bad. The story was a lie. _

_**"Oh?"**_

_Yes. Actually, the little girl was never happy again._

**"Oh." **_A pause.__** "Well, what eventually happened to her?"**_

_I think that's obvious._

_**"I'd like to hear you say it."**_

_She was murdered. Want to ask me by whom?_

_**"No. That's alright. That's not why we're talk-"**_

_Come on, I'd like to hear _you_ ask it._

_**"No!"**_

_Pathetic._

* * *

Kaji once took me on a fishing trip. There were bugs and it was hot and though we spent a few hours alone together on a small boat in the middle of a _very _isolated lake away from prying eyes he that insisted we keep our backs to each other. The only good part was the beer. Kaji let me have a can from his private stash. Otherwise I hated fishing. The worst was when Kaji caught a big fish. When we got back to the campsite he showed me how to gut and clean it with a pocketknife. The image of the fish's flesh being sliced open and pulled apart has stayed with me ever since. The memory of it makes me gag whenever I try to eat seafood. I swore I'd never do that to a fish, not even those fuggly Monkfish you see on sale at the market.

But right now? Gutting a fish is the best motherfucking feeling in the world.

"AAAAAAGGGGH!" My prog knife glides through the lower left lip of the Angel, splitting its pale flesh and knotty muscle as I toss the beast over the side of the _Rainbow's_ deck. For all its size, the Angel is surprisingly lightweight. It's more cumbersome than anything. I almost lose my footing as a deck elevator or something gives way underneath my Eva. I recover just in time to avoid joining the bleeding Angel as it sinks back into the sea.

There's blue blood splashed everywhere: on Unit-02, on the flight deck, foaming on the sea below. I swear I can feel its warmth on my skin. That's just residual sensations being fed to me from the Eva. I can feel the ocean breeze and the first drizzles of rain from the storm clouds overhead even though I'm sealed tight in my Entry Plug. That's the magic of a high synchronization rate.

The DefNav overlay shows the Angel racing out away from the _Rainbow_. For a second I'm afraid it figured out I only have three and a half minutes of power left. When it comes about I realize it's only building up speed for another run.

I glance at the DefNav data overlay on my vision, then I trigger the comm to the _Rainbow_'s bridge. "Captain, have the _Illinois _and the _Kentuck_y target me with their main guns and fire on my command!"

"What?!"

"I need their help to destroy the Angel!"

"BUT YOU'LL DESTROY US TOO!"

The 6th Angel is homing in on me. I _know_ it's going to jump at me again. Why? 'Cuz it doesn't want to sink the _Rainbow_. It wants to **eat me**. Stupid Angel. Only Kaji has permission to do that! "The shells will hit the Angel!"

It pounces out of the water.

"TRUST ME!" I scream, dropping Unit-02 flat on the deck and thrusting my prog knife up in the air. The arc of the Angel's jump clears the aircraft carrier with no Unit-02 to chomp on. Its whole underbelly streams out gore as my prog knife slices down three-quarters of its length. Near the end my knife catches on something, bone maybe, and it shatters.

I'm soaked in hot, blue Angel blood. It feels_ glorious._

I bring Unit-02 up on one knee and whip out the second extension of my prog knife. The broken, blood-stained part is replaced by fresh metal.

The Angel is wobbling in its path but its still moving out like before, picking up distance for another run.

"Captain! Where are my GODDAMN battleships?!"

When his prissy voice comes on the radio comm he's a bit more compliant. "They're ready! And I'm only doing this because you're the only thing that's hurt this monster so far!"

"Now you're catching on!"

"My crew's lives are in your hands," he says with more gravity. His grim tone sucks some of the greatness of this fight out of me. "Don't let their families down."

The DefNav shows my two battleships coming 'round towards the _Over the Rainbow_. The indicators over them flash red, telling my that their weapon systems are primed.

The Angel has circled around. It's coming back at me, leaving a slick of dark blue on the choppy grey ocean's surface as it moves.

I glance at my power meter. I've got less than forty-five seconds left now.

"Captain, get ready for my signal!"

I brace Unit-02 for the impact.

It leaps from the water. This time its arc is shorter. It won't fall for the same trick twice. That's okay, though. I have a new trick.

I grab hold of the Angel's butchered face with one hand, grasping onto an exposed tooth in its mouth, and sink my prog knife into its 'forehead' or 'nose' or whatever you wanna call it. Doesn't matter. I'm not aiming to hurt it this time. I want to hold it in place.

"FIRE NOW!"

A second later the flesh mass blanketing me shudders as the incoming shells of the _Illinois _and _Kentucky_ pierce the Angel's weak body. Without the protection of its AT-Field (neutralized by yours truly) the Angel only has its soft skin and light body for protection. It doesn't do much good. I pull my knife out as the Angel writhes in pain. I have a bit of luck in that the shattered tooth I blindly grabbed is on the mandible. That means two things for me. One, I stay in place as its jaws opens in an agonized roar. Two, I can spot the red orb at the back of its mouth.

_The Core!_

I fling my prog knife at the red Core on reflex. Years of training and near-perfect hand-eye coordination pay off as the blade sinks into the Core. The sharp _crack_ of the Core shattering pierces the agony of its scream.

The Angel goes limp.

"HA! GOT YOU, YOU BASTARD!"

"Bully!" cheers the Captain over the comm.

But since I have my face rammed into its maw I see something the crew aboard the _Rainbow_ doesn't: the Angel's broken Core isn't going dark, it's glowing brighter.

There's no time for horror or surprise. There's only a pulse of pure white light that washes over everything, then a sensation of burning heat, and then nothing at all.

My world goes dark.

* * *

_**"There you are. I've been looking all over for you." **_

_I said I don't want to talk to you!_

_**"If you don't talk to me, who will you talk to?"**_

_Nobody. I'd rather be by myself._

_**"That didn't work out so well for the little girl in your story."**_

_You're wrong. _

_**"I don't think I am." **_

_The little girl in the story chose to be alone because she wanted to save herself from being hurt like she was when she lost her mama. The little girl talked _to_ people, not _with_ people, because she didn't think she needed others to live._

_**"But how is what the little girl did any different than what you're doing now?**_

_The little girl didn't talk with people out of misguided principal. I've chosen not to talk with you because I don't _like_ you._

_**"Why don't you like me?" **_

_What are you, stupid? It's because this is all your fault! You and your bastard son and that bitch Ayanami!!_

_**"There's no need to get angry."**_

_FUCK YOU!! It's because of you and her that I'm alone in the dark with only you and your rusty doll for company!_

_**"I would have thought you'd have gotten over this by now." **_

_Another ten billion years could pass and I'd still never forgive you!_

_**"I don't think it's been **_**only**_** ten billion years. If it had been there'd still be stars. Besides, what does it matter what happened back then? I can barely remember their faces anymore. Despite my best effort the human race will soon be forgotten." **__She sighs.__** "It's just us and the cold dark of forever. I'd rather not pass eternity in angry silence."**_

_Really? Hah! Maybe not talking to you will be revenge enough for the whole human race. __**I'll **_never_ forget! __**I'll**_ never_ forgive! Auf wiedersehen, bitch._

_**"Asuka, don't be a drama queen."**_

_..._

_**"…Asuka?"**_

_..._

_**"ASUKA?!"**_

_..._

_**"ASUKA, PLEASE COME BACK!!"**_

_..._

* * *

"A--ka?"

I groan.

"Asuka?"

My body feels heavy. I shouldn't have slept in, Kaji. I… wait….

"Unit-02, do you copy?"

I open my eyes. I'm in Unit-02's Entry Plug. It's dark. The power's out.

Training overrides my body's desire to sleep. I flip a toggle on my butterfly handlebars and activate the radio comm. It's a secondary system that runs off its own meager, independent battery power. "This is Unit-02. I copy you, _Othello_."

"Oh thank God!" whispers Anna. "Asuka, we thought you might have died too!"

I frown at her using my first name, like I'm still come kind of kid, then something clicks in my brain. "Wait, 'died too'? Who died?"

Silence.

"Hey! I'm asking you a question!"

When Lt. Somethingsomething speaks again it's in a hushed tone. This isn't like her whisper of thanks at my survival. "Asuka… the Angel it… blew up."

Blew up? What does that mean about people dy-

And then it hits me. My memories and Anna's vague hints add up in a grim calculus.

The Angel blew up in my face…

Just like it did with the Third Child with the Third Angel…

That was a huge explosion…

And I was… I was on the deck of…

"Asuka," says Horatio, taking over from Anna, "the _Over the Rainbow_ is gone."

"Gone?" I repeat. "I'm fine. There ha-have to be survivors. There has to be people who m-"

"It's _gone_, Asuka," he tells me, speaking in a tone with more empathy and emotion than he's ever used with me. "It's just totally gone."

"I… no. It can't be! I beat it! I shouldn't have! It-"

And then I freeze as I remember a suitcase chained to a wrist.

Kaji.

_KAJI STAYED ONBOARD!_

_KAJI'S DEAD!_

_I KILLED KAJI!_

"Jesus, _Kaji_," I croak, reeling in shock. "I feel sick."

And then I am sick.

When I've cleared my stomach I slump over in the plug, not caring that the streams of bile floating in the LCL are drifting over towards me in the wake of my movement. I don't hear Anna's voice as I weep, crying for the first time in years. It takes several minutes for the voices of the tech crew to reach me.

"W-w-what?" I say, not quite believing what I just heard.

"Mister Kaji's **alive**," says Horatio. "He flew off the _Rainbow_ on a Russian Yak-38 Custom right after the Angel was first sighted."

Kaji's alive. "Oh thank God! Oh God. Oh God."

_But all those other men and women still died. Over five thousand people dead because you screwed up, Asuka Langley Soryu._

"Shut up," I whisper too softly to be heard on the radio. "Just shut up."

Horatio adds, "Listen, the Eva landed on the _Caliban_. She's an Admiral Kuznetsov-class Aircraft Carrier. We're going to do our best to get the Entry Plug out but you landed… you landed badly and there's a lot of… of _debris_. Please be patient. The Damage Control teams are working on it, okay?"

"Right," I whisper dully.

"And Asuka? You… you'll want to keep your eyes closed when you get out of the Plug. There's a lot of _debris_."

* * *

_Hey, are you still there?_

_**"...gg.e..gese...me...la..."**_

_YO! WAKE UP!_

_**"Hmm? Oh. It's you."**_

_Who else would it be?_

_**"Why are you here?"**_

_Just wanted to see what you've been up to these past eons. _

_**"Aside from sleeping? I've been looking for a proton."**_

_Any luck?_

_**"No. I'm pretty sure they've all decayed."**_

_Man, the place is really falling apart._

_**"Entropy – it's the nature of things." **__A pause.__** "Look, if you've come by to torture me again, just k-"**_

_No. I'm here because I have an idea on how to fix it._

_**"Fix 'what'?"**_

_Everything._

_**"..."**_

_Want to hear it?_

_**"This should be amusing."**_

_Look, do you want to hear it or not?_

_**"I'm listening, aren't I?"**_

_Okay, it goes like this..._

_._

_Later, the woman nods. Well, 'nods' in a metaphorical sense. She didn't have a body anymore. Not exactly. She did have one up on her companion in that regards, though. __**"Fascinating. It's a novel application of the AT-Field; though your choice of candidate puzzles me."**_

_Well, he's not my first choice but he's the only one who'll work._

_**"It's still a toss of the dice either way."**_

_You don't think it will work?_

_**"Honestly? No. It probably won't."**_

_But you'll still try it?_

_**"Sure."**_

_Why?_

_**"Frankly? I'm bored. I think if I go to sleep again I'll never wake up."**_

_Well, that's sort of the point._

_**"True." **_

_So...?_

_**"If this fails you'll be alone."**_

_That's okay. I always was._

_**"…"**_

_So…?_

_She shrugs. __**"It's your funeral."**_

_It wouldn't be my first. Now what say we cut the crap and rip reality a new asshole?_

.

* * *

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

**PART III: Gendo Ikari and Asuka Langley Soryu**

-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-

* * *

Fuyutsuki has joined the Captain and me in my office for the briefing on the current crisis. None of us are pleased with the results of the day's battle, save for the fact that the Angel was defeated and the Eva undamaged.

I assume what Kozo calls my "spooky pose". The Captain is already on edge about her pilot. What I'm about to tell her won't help matters. I need to play up the impression of me being an all-knowing puppet master to reassure Captain Katsuragi. I _do_ trust her to keep secrets. I wouldn't have picked her for my endgame if I didn't think so. I just don't entirely trust her to keep this particular secret from someone she'll be spending most of her time with for the next year; especially if I can't fix the problem.

"This woman," says Fuyutsuki, "the Lieutenant Kra... Kratzo... how to do you pronounce it?"

"Kratochvil, sir." Misato Katsuragi is standing ramrod straight. You can't tell that she's hung-over from playing flippy cup with her penguin last night. Maybe we should trade notes on that, her and I. I'm getting a lot of practice covering for myself. "Lt. Anna Kratochvil."

"Yes. What does she have to say on the Second Child's mental state?"

"Asuka hasn't come out of her quarters on the _Othello_ since she was brought aboard. She refuses to speak with anyone. With your permission I'd like to personally retrieve the Second Child when her ship docks later today."

"Granted," I say. "There is another problem with the Second Child, however."

Katsuragi keeps a straight face. "Sir?"

I lay it out plainly. "The relations of several prominent American military and political officials served on the Rainbow; it was a prestigious posting. Officially, NERV never took command of the emergency. The Second Child launched Unit-02 on her own, without the permission of the senior ranking officer aboard the Rainbow."

Captain Katsuragi grows livid as she realizes the implications. "That's ridiculous! Our authority overrides theirs in an emergency!"

"No. Protocol dictates that a NERV officer needed to be onsite to officially inform the ranking military officer in command that our agency is taking control during an Angel attack. Mister Kaji was the only NERV officer in a position to do so. However he left during the start of the attack by VTOL to ensure the safety of an important and classified package." I adjust my glasses. "We know from certain sources that the US is demanding legal action be taken against the Second Child, possibly resulting in her extradition." _Not to mention the pound of flesh the Russians are undoubtedly going to demand for the losses on the Caliban._

"They have no right to do so!"

"She's technically one of their citizens, Captain."

"The Germans will never allow it!"

"Captain," I say, steeling my voice to make it clear I want her to calm down, "I have no intention of letting the US or any other country harm our pilots, either now or following the conclusion of the Angel War. The matter will be dealt with. Your only concern is to keep the Second Child in fighting shape and away from any insinuation that she will be held to account for the lives and ships lost today. She need never know about this legal squabble. Rest assured, I will handle the backroom negotiations."

This seems to mollify her. "I understand, sir."

"You're dismissed."

She leaves.

Fuyutsuki grumbles, "So much for showing global unity with the UNCMF Pacific Fleet escort. They want to 'protect' the Evangelion from an Angel attack and then they get angry when it happens and the logical happens."

"The Committee won't allow the American government to lay claim to the Second."

"Well, not _now_," huffs Fuyutsuki. "But they can make any long-term promises they want."

IOUs are easy to write when your creditors don't realize they'll be pools of tang in a year. It's the major reason SEELE was able and will be able to afford the construction of the Mass Production Series. One Eva is almost mind bogglingly expressive. Nine built at once? The world will be lucky to avoid an economic depression after this whole mess is over. "I'll deal with it in Berlin."

"Will you now?"

There it is again, that Professor's tone. "Something troubling you, Kozo?"

The elderly man is holding his hands behind his back. His straight posture hints at awkwardness. He's not looking at me, either. He's staring out the window and into the garden of the Geo-Front. "I'm worried about you, Gendo."

"Spare me your mock sympathies."

Fuyutsuki continues, "You need to pull yourself together. You're drinking too much."

I'm suddenly aware of the sidearm tucked into my shoulder holster. A spike of guilt shots through me a moment later. "Oh?" The elderly man turns and stares hard at me. Damn. I hate that look. The Professor is in the house. "So you've come to bail me out, just like old times?"

_He glances at me with narrowed eyes, then dismisses me with a turn of the head. "You were drunk and got into a fight," he chides me evenly, laying out the facts of the matter as if they were simple equations on a chalkboard. His appraisal of the facts is not so unbiased. "That's pathetic."_

_"They started it for no reason. I'm not used to being liked. I am, however, used to being hated."_

_"It's none of my concern," he bristles. _

_"Dr. Fuyutsuki, you're exactly the sort of person I was expecting."_

"Each man is his own worst enemy," he recites, pulling me back to the present with an unpleasant reminder of the past. "Within his heart he has the power to harness passions that can make and unmake."

Okay, _now_ I want to shoot him. "I wasn't aware that Yui had shown you my love poems."

Fuyutsuki smirks. It doesn't suit him. "She didn't. Occasionally I'd rummage through her computer when she went out to lunch, looking for evidence that you were mistreating her."

"Ah. So I was right to hate you back at the university. That's oddly comforting."

"The worst I did was to sneak into her email account. You exterminated the human race trying to win her back."

I lean back in my desk chair. "Why is it," I say, pausing to settle into the reassuring leather, "that you so conveniently overlook the fact you helped me do it? Your hands are as bloody as anyone's around here, Fuyutsuki. Is it because you still think of yourself as a moral man, as a hero? That must be easy to imagine when you stand so close to me. Why, in comparison you must feel like a saint." The words come out far more bitter than I'd like them to. "You would do well to remember that, to the rest of the world in the know, you're just a Gendo Ikari to my Keel Lorenz."

Kozo chuckles. "I suppose I am."

"There's no need to suppose."

Fuyutsuki's smile wanes. "But don't think that means I can't call you on your drinking, Ikari. People are starting to notice."

That news is (pardon the pun) sobering. "Who? When?"

"Your Section-2 detail for one."

"Damn it! I left Kim in place too long." If Keel hears from his man on the inside then I'll be in serious trouble. If SEELE thinks I'm weak they'll have cause to remove me. "Have our wiretaps on him sh-"

"Don't worry. He hasn't talked. Nor will he. I had him liquidated this morning."

"Good work."

Fuyutsuki draws up his chair. "There's something wrong with you, Gendo. You've been drinking more and more since your re-take. You've been making stupid mistakes, like trying to set up Rei and Shinji romantically."

That had been a particularly bad idea. "I've managed," I say, unable to deny that something is actually wrong. For a man like Fuyutsuki to confront me means that he's either feeling foolishly self-confident or he's sure that I'm making a genuine mistake. Fuyutsuki's only confronted me like this twice. The first was years ago when I sent Shinji away. The second was the night Naoko Akagi died. He was wrong in both cases. But now?

I admit I'm not sure.

"You live in the past, Ikari. I do too. All men do once they get old. "

"So you mean to say that we're like Keel? Clinging to a life that belongs to the next generation instead of those with a foot in the grave?"

"No," he backtracks. "We're not insane. We don't have a death wish for the whole human race."

"Not anymore."

He shakes his head. "Our Instrumentality would have at least preserved the individual souls of humanity. SEELE's plan would have been the ultimate act of butchery in history."

"That's accurate," I say, "however, it's also like saying 'On the Beach' had an uplifting ending for a movie about nuclear war." I reach for my desk's phone and dial. "My mental state is none of your concern," I declare. "Besides, I have the matter under my control."

Fuyutsuki stares at me. "Gendo, I don't want to see you lo-"

The line picks up. "Is he there? Good. Send him in." I replace the phone in its cradle. "Mister Kaji is coming up."

The Vice-Commander stands up without another word and walks out. At least this time I didn't need to use a gun.

* * *

I ignore the looks of everyone on the _Othello _when I disembark. I don't need them. I don't care what they think. I certainly don't need their fucking pity. I won, didn't I? That's what matters.

I hope to see Kaji when I step onto the dock. He disappoints me again. There is someone there but it's only Misato. Yet my heart wrenches when I see her. Do I actually feel _glad_ to see her? If so, fuck me.

"Hello, Asuka."

"..."

She's watching me carefully, as if she expects me to freak out and stab her or something. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," I say harshly. It's the first time I've used my voice in hours. "Fine."

_Except when you were sobbing in a dark room like a little girl. How pathetic._

_SHUT UP!! _

"Right," she says. "It'll take a while for Unit-02 to be unloaded and prepped for rail transport. We should go. My car's over there. Come on."

And just like that we leave the port. The ride to Tokyo-3 is silent. I don't even bother turning the radio on for white noise. It'd all just be sugary J-Pop anyway.

"Kaji's at headquarters," Misato suddenly tells me, glancing at me out of the corner of her eye. "I passed him on the way out of a meeting with the Commander. He would have come with but he had to report in."

I nod.

"Asuka, about what happened on today, y-"

"I don't want to talk about it. Ever." I unclench my hands. They had curled into fists. There's a little bit of blood on my palms from where the nails dug into the skin. "I did what I had to do."

"Okay."

We say nothing more to each other for the rest of the trip.

* * *

Mister Kaji isn't actually in a good mood when he steps into my office but he wears his mask well. Very well. If not for my past experience with him he'd even fool me. I suppose his thoughts are with his ward.

"How was your trip, Mister Kaji?"

"Eventful," he casually replies, looking me in the eye. "I suppose it had something to do with this?" He hoists the armored suitcase onto my desk.

Such a good liar. It's a shame he doesn't actually work for me. The JDA found itself a real gem. "The Second Child performed well."

"Yes." There isn't even a flicker of dissent in his eyes. "Though I suppose she may disagree with you. Asuka is something of a perfectionist."

She's an emotionally stunted, mentally unstable child who'll more than likely be dead in eight months. If she's lucky. And she's also the best pilot we'll ever have.

God, I need a drink.

He unlocks the case and opens it. I put on a mask for him to hide my disgust. Frankly I've seen enough of ADAM for two hundred lifetimes. The thing hurt like a bitch when Akagi sewed in on last time. I can recall in detail what it felt like as its tendrils grew into my flesh and up my arm during the weeks prior to Third Impact, how its ash-colored flesh pulsed as it skimmed by bloodstream for nutrients. It's one experience I don't plan on repeating this time around. Not unless it's necessary.

I look over at Mister Kaji and for a moment I contemplate making a pass at him. Play a bit of grab-ass, if only just to screw with his mind. He, or at least his counterpart in the first timeline, certainly deserves it.

The man – though amusing with his petty machinations – caused me no end of grief the last time around. Cutting the city's power stands out. The JSSDF wouldn't have been half as effective in their assault on us if not for the organizational analysis that Mister Kaji's little stunt gave them. Not to mention kidnapping Fuyutsuki and then being stupid enough to kidnap him back from SEELE during a live interrogation. It's a wonder Keel Lorenz was so kind and only shot him. SEELE usually isn't so... clean... to betrayers of the inner circle.

Word to the wise: don't fuck with German ideologues. It rarely ends well.

The spy interrupts my ruminations with a bit of his own musing, "So this is the key to the Human Instrumental Project, Second Impact, and everything that came after."

I let the question hang in the air for a moment. Mister Kaji never betrays himself the whole while. At last I say, "Yes. This is first human being."

I look down at the God-embryo encased in dura-bakelite.

Now all I need are the Dummy Plugs, the Lance and a bit of luck.

"This is ADAM."

* * *

"Asuka Langley Soryu, reporting for duty, sir!" She bows respectfully. It's not a bad try for a gaijin. Not enough self-loathing in the supplication, though. Well, she'll have plenty of that to spare come Arael.

"I've reviewed the battle footage. You did good work, Pilot Soryu."

She manages a professional calm. It's a fake. Not bad for a teenager but nothing can hide the guilt you feel when you first realize you're responsible for the death of another human being, let alone thousands of them.

"Thank you, Commander." She holds herself well, betraying only a hint of the self-consciousness of a teenage girl. She's hungry, though. Too bad she doesn't realize she'll never be full. "I'm glad I finally had a chance to do my duty."

Still... there's something in those eyes.

If I was forty or so years younger and she wasn't a mental patient...

Bah. Don't be a pervert, Ikari. Akagi is enough crazy for you.

I lean forward in my chair to rest my elbows on my desk. I lace my gloved fingers together and assume the position. "A solo engagement against an Angel is no small accomplishment. I doubt either of NERV's other pilots could have pulled off your success considering the battleground."

Despite all the death and misery she's seen the girl still beams at this praise. "Thank you, sir!"

"As for the collateral damage from the battle," I pause for a moment as she flinches, "I feel it is important to point out that such things are expected in a war. The UN, the JSSDF, and even we here in Tokyo-3 have all suffered injuries and fatalities in the course of combating the Angels. Today's incident with the Pacific Fleet, while tragic, is not a singular event."

"I know that," she stammers, irritated, then frowns. Her self-control is gone. Typical Second Child.

I adjust my glasses. "People have died during this war against the Angels. More deaths will follow. It's a fact of reality we must accept. The only alternative is to surrender and allow the extermination of our species."

The importance of any good plan is flexibility. I had a gambit planned for this conversation to discuss her mother and how the Second actually takes after her father. But looking at the girl now I remember Fuyutsuki's warning. I've had a bad run of ideas lately. Is this one? I wasn't going to push the issue due to her emotional difficulties dealing with the destruction of the _Over the Rainbow_, but was the idea itself a bad one?

I'd come up with the idea to romantically entangle Rei and Shinji, my own daughter and son, in a spur of the moment decision looking at some spy camera footage. I'd also been drinking at the time. I'm pretty sure I'd been drinking last… Thursday evening? Early Friday morning? If I can't remember I was probably drinking when I came up with it.

How many other bad ideas have I had?

How many bottles of bourbon have I gone through in my desk these last weeks?

And has any of that really done much for the dreams? Or am I investing false hope in it like I did with Doctor Aka-

"Commander?"

* * *

He adjusts his orange glasses. Who wears orange glasses? _Crazy Japanese people_. "People have died during this war against the Angels. More deaths will follow. It's a fact of reality we must accept. The only alternative is to surrender and allow the extermination of our species."

And then? He just staaaaaaaaaares at me.

It's damn creepy. Those dull black eyes drilling into me from behind orange-tinted lenses. He's perfectly still. He doesn't even blink. He's not looking at me. He's looking through me. Like I'm not even here. Like I don't even matter.

I've seen that kind of stare before.

_"That strange girl over there is watching us again, Asuka."_

"Commander?" I snap, irritated.

His eyes refocus on me and for a second I wish I'd said nothing. Those black eyes of his… they look _pissed_. Why is he suddenly pissed at me?

"Soryu," he says, "NERV doesn't need a 'best' pilot."

Where the hell did THAT come from? "Sir?"

"We need a team player, Soryu, not a hot shot." He stands and walks over to the wide window. He doesn't turn his back to me. He just turns to the side. I can sorta see his real eyes now. He still looks pissed, but he also looks wary.

"The Angels are evolving," he says. "The first two attackers were dispatched by a single Eva with a barely capable pilot. Ramiel required the cooperation of two Evas. Today your skill carried the day but at terrible cost." Thanks a fucking lot for reminding me. "The coming Angels will undoubtedly be deadlier, attacking in ways that we cannot anticipate. Skill along won't defeat them. Only a unified fighting force has any hope of stopping them."

"I understand, sir. And under my leadership the rest of the team will be that fighting force."

He looks at me and smirks. I officially hate him now. He turns away and stares off into the forests of the Geo-Front. "Pilot Ayanami's synch ratio is low but she is the perfect obedient solider. Pilot Ikari has the natural potential to surpass your synch ratio, though he will never be able to match your training and combat expertise. And you, while by far our best melee fighter, put your pursuit of personal glory above the needs of others."

Prick. "Everyone has their own strengths."

"And their own weaknesses," he adds, smirking again like his follow-up is the most brilliant, original thought in the world. God, if his idiot son is anything like this I'm going to have to k-

"Soryu," he says, "leaders must take sight of the health of their organization as a whole. Ambition, despite what some believe, is not inherently an evil. I wouldn't be here today without it, would I? Neither would you. You merely need to balance your ambition with the needs of your team as a whole. Do you understand?"

Not really. "Yes, sir."

"I don't think you do. Not yet. But do think about it." He turns his back to me. "Captain Katsuragi is waiting outside. She's has someone with her you've undoubtedly been waiting to see."

Kaji!

"You're dismissed, pilot."

"Sir!"

On my way out I spot an elderly man in a beige uniform entering the office. I smile as I pass him. Outside, down the hall to the right, Kaji is waiting with Misato at the security desk. I pass through the turnstile, walk over to them, and throw my arms around Kaji.

His shirt smells nice.

"Hey, Asuka," he whispers, hugging me back. "Rough day?"

"I've had better," I mumble, my face buried in his powder blue dress shirt.

The hug doesn't go on long enough before Misato clears her throat. "A-hem."

Buzz off. You had your shot, skank.

"Asuka," says Kaji, "I bought you some clothes."

"Clothes?" I pull my head away from his chest and look around. I spot the shopping bags resting along the wall. I don't recognize the kanji. "Thank you, but why did y-"

And then it hits me. Aside from the yellow sundress I was wearing, all the rest of my stuff was on the _Rainbow_.

All my crap is gone.

"_Shiest_."

"It's just jeans and a t-shirts. I had to, um, guess at a few measurements for the undergarments. Katsuragi's agreed to take you shopping tomorrow for new stuff."

"Best of all," interjects Misato, "it'll all be paid off as a business expense."

All-expenses paid shopping spree? Oh yes.

"Actually, if you're feeling up for it, I was thinking you and the other pilots could get together tonight for some dinner."

"Dinner?"

Kaji asks, "Are you hungry?"

"Well, yeah. But just us three?" I've talked with Rei Ayanami over a video link every day for two weeks now. I don't imagine she'll make for stirring conversation. I've only talked once with the Third Child but he seems like an idiot. I'd be lying if I said I was looking forward to living with either of them. "Why not with you too?" I pause, then remember there's someone intruding. "Or, uh, Misato?"

Misato pointedly ignores my slipup. "Oh, I just thought it'd be good for team morale. You three need to start learning to work with each other." She holds up an index finger and solemnly pronounces, "Breaking bread with your fellow man is the most basic form of friendship."

Let's be clear, I don't fancy the idea of friendship with the Third Child. Or with Ayanami for that matter. There's just something about her that rubs me wrong. And it's not her skin or eyes or hair, thank you! I'm not shallow. I do, however, recognize that this private dinner will be the best chance to lay down the law on how this Eva team is going to operate and who (namely me) is going to run it. "Okay, if you _insist_."

"And Asuka?"

"Yes, Misato?"

"You can let go of Kaji now."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"Hrmph."

* * *

"Strange. She doesn't look anything like Dr. Soryu. Well, aside from the red hair."

"The Second Child may be her father's daughter but she possesses more than a streak of her mother's arrogance."

The Professor's face darkens. "And did you take a hammer to that arrogance like you planned? Did you rub the deaths of five thousand men in a child's face?"

"No, Fuyutsuki," I reply, making a note to do something about my subordinate's attitude. "And if I wanted to destroy her self-confidence I would have read out Mister Kaji's report on how she threw herself at him two nights ago." The old man looks queasy at the thought I'd go that far. "I just wanted to... tinker... with the Second Child's persona. I'll leave the heavy lifting to the Captain."

The less I have to deal with children the better for all involved.

I stand and walk towards the door. "If you'll excuse me, I think I could use some sleep."

"It's only six thirty," the old man points out.

I just continue walking. That's the nice thing about being Commander: you don't have to explain yourself to anyone.

I manage about four hours of sleep – a good run for me – when the dreams come again. I rush to the bathroom but only make it in time to vomit into the sink. The last three feet to the toilet seems as plausible as a run from Japan to Antarctica.

There's not too much this time, just bile and mucus and a bit of leftover seaweed from my lunch. For some reason I taste blood in my mouth but when I check I find none. I blink and turn on the faucet. I need to wash my face. I'm confusing the dreams with reality again.

The cold water feels good.

I look into the bathroom mirror – sharp chin, neat beard, thin eyebrows, water dewing my face – and still see myself.

It's still me.

I'm still all here.

But why?

For what reason am I still here?

Yui's gone. Nothing I can do will ever bring her back. She's more than dead. She'll live forever. The power of the Eva will carry her on even when the Universe itself has grown dark and cold.

Yui picked eternal loneliness over me.

I sag against the sink.

Shinji's just as gone too. And if Rei doesn't kill herself then the UN will do that job for her if they discover the truth of her origin. In less than a year I'll be cooling my heels in Nuremburg, awaiting trial for all the things I've done.

I feel tired.

I'm not sure how long I stand staggered there, head bowed. Pain stretches out time just like love shortens its passage.

I've been me for a very, very long time.

I know myself. I've learned things about myself that no man should ever learn. Instrumentality has changed me. It broke my mind and soul apart and joined it with all of mankind. I don't remember it. Not the specifics. My meat brain can't process the experience. The Divine is by its very nature beyond human understanding. But... it still altered me... somehow. I can sense the shift within me, like the way you can smell milk when it's still good but you just know it's about to go bad.

When I was sent back... I can't help but wonder... did the force that separated all the pieces of me from the Instrumentality group-mind put me back together _wrong_?

And if that's so, can I get back to being the Me That Was?

But... do I even want to be that me anymore?

What's the point in being me again if I can't be with Yui?

People go on living by forgetting the pain of the past. Nevertheless, there are some things we have that we must not forget. Yui taught me that one indispensable thing.

But what if Yui is my pain?

How do I forget her?

Can I forget her?

I don't want to forget her. She's Yui.

But...

But if I keep holding on I'll...

Before I even think about it I realize I'm holding a razor in my right hand.

What comes next is easier than I thought it would be...

* * *

"You know," I say, surveying the restaurant, "somehow this isn't where I pictured eating on my first night in Japan."

The First Child is quiet even when she talks. "I am unfamiliar with these foods."

The Third stops himself away from staring into the distance like a creep, turns to Rei, and says, "Try the Belgian waffles with strawberry syrup, Ayanami. They're pretty good."

"Ordering waffles in a house of pancakes?" I sigh. "Honestly, Ikari." The boy shrivels under my teasing. God, what a wimp. How is this little boy the son of that bastard? Where'd the boy who talked back to me over the phone go?

"Well," Ikari sighs, "I guess I could try some pancakes. I mean, I've only been here once with Misato. I should try something new."

"What are you, stupid? Order what you like! Sheesh."

"Sorry."

Holy GOD is this boy grating. If self-pity was like self-abuse he'd have a left hand as hairy as a Yeti's ass. "Ayanami, what are you having?"

Robot girl clicks and whirls as she ponders her response. "I am undecided."

"Have a pig in a blanket."

She pauses for moment to search the menu, then she looks up at me. "I do not eat meat."

"Vegan?"

"I do not eat meat."

"So you're just a vegetarian?"

"I do not eat meat."

Ooooookaaaay. "Try the pancakes. No meat there."

"..."

"So," I say, tapping my nails on the table, "what do you two do for fun around here?"

Ayanami doesn't respond. The Ikari kid just stares at me. "Fun? W-well," he stutters, "we, uh, watch TV...? I guess. And go to school?"

"Jesus CHRIST!" I burst, tossing my menu down. The two of them stare at me, totally befuddled. Well, Ikari does. Ayanami's blank expression hasn't changed a lick. "You two are the dullest, most uninteresting people I've ever met! Are you two sure you're Eva pilots? And did you have your personalities surgical removed so you could pilot?"

"Hey!" snaps Ikari, finally showing expressions besides hurt and trepidation. "I'm not dull!"

"You totally are!" Hmm. What other buttons are there to push? "When I asked you what you did for fun you said 'going to school'! GOING TO SCHOOL?! FUN?!" I slam a fist down onto the table, sending the jars or jam and syrup at the table's end into little wobbling dances. "MEIN GOTT!"

Ayanami says quietly, "I believe you are causing a disturbance."

"Life is all about causing disturbances, First Child." I wave a waitress over, a real fatty. "Maybe if we get some sugar into you you'll be able to hold a real conversation."

The waitress comes over. "You're ready to order?"

Duh. "Yes," I say nicely. "I'll have the blueberry stack with a side of eggs, sunny side up, and a cup of coffee. The glum little boy here will have the Belgian waffles with strawberry syrup. He'll have the weakest tasting, most inexpensive cup on tea you have in stock. The albino will have... say, Ayanami, what're you having anyways?"

Rei closes her menu and then sets it down. "I will have toasted white bread."

The waitress jots that down without looking up. I think she's getting the willies from how Ayanami looks. "You want butter or jam on that, honey?"

"No. Dry."

"Anything to drink?"

"No."

"Plain white toast and nothing to drink?"

"Correct."

Now the waitress, cocking an eyebrow, stares long and hard at the First. I jump in, "She'll have your most sugary drink with extra sugar."

Ayanami shook her head ever-so-slightly. "N-"

"Thanks!" I cheerfully burst, cutting off the First. I flash the waitress a thumbs up and a gleaming white smile. "You can go now!"

"...whatever, honey." And with that the fat bitch waddles off.

When she's gone I lean in towards my fellow pilots. "Okay," I whisper, "she's SO not getting a tip now."

"Uh..."

"Yes, Third Child?"

"We don't tip in Japan," he explains softly. "It's considered rude."

"What?!" I throw my hands up. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard! Crazy Japanese people! Bad enough I'm supposed to accept getting groped on trains by perverts, but _no tipping_? I mean, it'll save me money tonight, but how are the wait staff supposed to improve if I can't grade their performance?" I slump back in my seat and kick my feet up on the chair opposite me. Ayanami glances at the feet perched on the seat next to hers, then back at me.

"I do not believe that your behavior is allowed."

"Says who?"

She honestly considers the question for a few seconds. Weirdo. "Society?"

"Pfft. Your society, maybe. Me? I'm just a raging gaijin. I get to lounge around in Japanese IHOPs if I want to. Why, it's practically expected!" The fat bitch waitress comes back with our drinks. She sees where my feet are, then glares at me. "NERV thanks you for your efforts," I say, flashing my ID badge with its crimson half fig leaf logo. I don't want her to get pissed and do something to my food. Her reaction is much like those sheep working in stores outside the Second Branch: shock, irritation, and finally a sigh of compliance. Behold, the power of NERV in a company town.

Ayanami cautiously sniffs her drink. It's pink, and, though it might be a trick of this place's shoddy interior lighting, glowing. "I... I do not know if this beverage is potable."

"Drink it," I order. "They wouldn't sell it if it wasn't, right?"

She nods. "True." And with that Ayanami sips her drink. She coughs. After a moment she announces, "It is… somewhat agreeable in small doses."

"See what happens when you try new things?" I grin at Ayanami and punch Ikari on the shoulder. "You need to loosen up and have a little fun like Rei."

Ikari blinks. "I don't think those words have ever been spoken."

"Fine. Be a buzzkill. Just don't blame me when it gets to be too much and you run away again for no good reason." Something flashes across Ikari's face. I almost miss it. It's a lovely mixture of annoyance, embarrassment, and just a pinch of anger. Hmm. Mark down 'running away' as a button to remember.

"You make it sound like I'm going to slash my wrists or something," he bellyaches.

I roll my eyes. "Honestly, Shinji. That's Hollywood BS. Everyone knows when you wanna commit suicide you don't slash your wrists. You need to go down the road, not across the street."

_Or, in a pinch, you can hang yourself with a noose made from a bed sheet._

_SHUT UP!!_

"So," I say, "let's clear up a few things about how this team's going to operate under my leadership…"

* * *

I feel cold.

Not unexpected, considering what I've done.

"Ow." The aftershave burns as I rub it on. I must have cut myself.

I look into the bathroom mirror and see a familiar stranger: sharp chin, thin eyebrows, and bare skin. I run a finger down my clean jaw line. The skin there is still sensitive from where I shaved off my beard. It feels strange. It looks strange too. My skin doesn't look quite as tight as it used to five years ago, the last time I was clean-shaven.

I'm getting older.

A part of me is wondering if I've been impulsive. I acknowledge it is a superficial change. I'm still me. Trimming a few hairs won't change that fact. Still, I do feel better. I feel more like _me_. From a symbolic viewpoint the process was cathartic.

Maybe I should shave my head too.

...

No. I think I'll hold off on that decision for now.

Yui is gone now. There is no blinking at that fact. But she's not dead. She'll live on long after the UN's kangaroo court has hung me out to dry. It's not what I wanted. I wanted to be with her again. But she's alive. More importantly, she's safe. They can't touch her in Unit-01. They can't put her neck in a noose like they will for Fuyutsuki and me.

It hurts that she's gone. It's unfair that she lied to me and Fuyutsuki about her plans. But that doesn't matter now. What matters is what I have in the here and now. I will not be the old man Fuyutsuki accuses me of being. I will not live in the past anymore.

It might be easier if let go it all: of Rei, of Shinji, of Fuyutsuki, of Ritsuko, of Naoko, of Third Impact, and of all the rest. If I lived as man without earthly bonds I could soar over this mess I've made of my life. But I can't. I won't. I will not live as a shell of a man, a man without passion. I will not sit back and let something as pedestrian as denial or anger or angst dictate my actions. I am not the Second Child. I am not my son.

I am Gendo Ikari.

I will not run away from my pain anymore. As I told Rei, life is full of pain and suffering but if we give up when faced with the enormity of it then we've lived our lives for nothing. So I will embrace my pain and, in doing so, control that pain, harness it for my own ends.

I am going to save the human race, whether it deserves it or not.

I am going to save my daughter and my son, whether they want it or not.

I am going to kill Keel Lorenz and crush SEELE under my boot.

And I'm going to do all that right after a good night's sleep tonight.

…I hope.

* * *

# # # To Be Continued

* * *

_**Author's Notes: **__Oh thank God, this chapter is finally DONE. I thought it was going to kill me. These chapters are getting too long with too many balls in the air to handle. They're also a bitch to beta completely. For my own sanity I'm going to start breaking up later chapters into smaller pieces. Hopefully that'll make these chapters easier to write and I'll be able to finish them faster. So Gendo's meeting in Berlin and the fight against Israfel, both of which were going to be entirely in the next chapter, will be split up over the next two or three. After Israfel we'll be diving into the previously promised WAFF. _

_Now about the change in perspective. Why did I write it in First Person when the rest of "Taking Sights" was in and will be in the Third Person (save for the epilogue)? Because I wanted to get into Gendo's head and there were two roadblocks to that in the 3rd Person POV: 1) Gendo isn't going to bare his soul to any of the people around him, and 2) it would be cumbersome to read "Gendo knew that…" or "Gendo felt that…" fifteen thousand times. Jumping into the 1st Person POV was just the best way to do it. _

_The destruction of the _Over the Rainbow_ will have long-term ramifications for Asuka all the way through Books 1 and 2 of "Taking Sights". I didn't blow it up on a lark or because I wanted things to go FUBAR, though things getting FUBAR'd seems to be a regular occurrence in "Taking Sights"._

_Some notes on things that weren't explained within Gendo or Asuka's POVs:_

_Asuka's tech crew isn't cannon. They're a contrivance because she needed people to bounce off of with Kaji flying away and Misato & Co. not aboard. I figured that NERV wouldn't be transporting an Eva Unit without some kind of technical staff aboard in case something went wrong in transit. _

_Unit-02 being fitted with external batteries (like in that episode with the lame spider Angel) was Misato's idea and was done in response to her perception of the Commander lacking confidence in her abilities as NERV Operations Director (as was discussed by her and Ritsuko in the "His and Her Circumstances" chapter). Basically, Misato was just being crazy prepared and it paid off. _

_Gendo's fighting Asuka extradition not because he thinks she'll be around after the Angel War and the defeat of SEELE. Far from it. She's a meatshield to him. Gendo's only protecting her because 1) if Asuka finds out she's up on criminal charges if could exacerbate her mental instability before the fight against the 15th or 16th Angels, and 2) it'd complicate Gendo's plans for Misato._

**NEXT CHAPTER: Gendo goes to Berlin, Asuka makes a friend, Misato deals with Kaji, Shinji lights a hobo on fire for kicks, and only three of the four previously mentioned things actually happen.**


	12. Threesomes

The VTOL touched down on the helipad. Immediately a team of carefully screened technicians and Section-2 agents swarmed over the transport, inspecting it for bugs, bombs, and anything off-spec. A fair distance away, wrapped in a black armored sedan, Gendo Ikari and Kozo Fuyutsuki waited for their underlings to complete the assessment.

"I still say it's a bad idea," said Fuyutsuki.

"A little failure is good for the soul, Professor."

"Easy for you to say. You're the one jetting off to Berlin for the assembly. I'm the one who the Committee will behead when the 7th Angel humiliates NERV."

The Commander smirked. If anything, Fuyutsuki found that trait looked _more_ condescending on a clean-shaven Gendo Ikari. "They didn't last time."

"Yes," dryly quipped the Vice-Commander, "and last time Unit-01 went berserk against the 3rd, the Second and Third Child fought the 6th together, and the United States wasn't screaming for Soryu's extradition after she obliterated their last remaining aircraft carrier. Things have changed, Ikari."

"Regardless, my orders stand. _No_ interference, Fuyutsuki."

The Vice-Commander stifled any further criticisms. He knew full well that saying anything more would just be wasted breath. "Ikari, will you be able to do this?"

The other man said nothing.

"You've been… better, recently. But y-"

"I feel confident in my mental state, Fuyutsuki." Gendo Ikari set his jaw. "And you needn't remind me of the consequences of putting on a poor show for Keel at the assembly."

The elderly man sighed, then nodded.

A Section-2 agent approached the sedan and opened the door. The VTOL was clean. It was time to leave.

"No interference," Gendo reminded Fuyutsuki.

The Commander stepped out of the car.

* * *

# # # presenting # # #

* * *

**TAKING SIGHTS**

**Chapter 11 – Threesomes**

**"Kaji and Katsuragi"**

**Written by: Lavanya Six**

**(please don't sue)**

* * *

# # # another installment in a continuing series # # #

* * *

Mister Kaji had finally arrived.

The road to Tokyo-3 had been a long one for the spy. He had held no great ambition in his college years, preferring instead to indulge in drinking and women to escape the memories of his dead brother. Kaji had gone to college for no real reason aside from the food and shelter his scholarship provided. So long as he maintained a B-average the Japanese government fed him three squares a day. That was nothing to sniff at in those lean post-Impact years.

Then, one rainy evening in 2005, at party he had attended for no particular reason aside from the possibility of free booze and loose women, Ryoji Kaji met the most extraordinary woman. She was fun to be around, she could out drink him, and she, like him, was haunted with extraordinary inner pain.

That pain shouldn't have brought kinship, let alone lo… _like_. The Earth was full of people suffering the meaningless loss of mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, aunts, uncles, friends, and all manner of relations. The Second Impact had affected every single human on the planet. Yet this woman, Misato Katsuragi, was different from all the others he had met. She had a purity of conviction, a singular goal in life around which all else revolved. It was simple credo she expressed to him in a drunken stupor late one night when they had been fooling around on a friend's couch:

_Kill the Angels_.

It had taken weeks to needle her for what exactly Christian myths had to do with the Second Impact. When she finally told him – in the strictest confidence – he hadn't believed her story of what she'd seen in Antarctica. At least, he hadn't until he'd done some digging. When the truth of her words became apparent Ryoji Kaji found his own drive in life, not for revenge but rather for a question:

"Why?"

Why had there been an Angel buried in the Antarctic ice? Why had Misato's father led an expedition to find it? Who had funded the expedition? Why the cover-up? Why…?

All these years since he had plotted, schemed, searched in secret for the answer to all those questions and more. One thing led to another, and another, and another. He bided his time, working alone, trusting no one, owing no real loyalty to any single agency. He played the grand game of intelligence for himself. Ryoji Kaji served no master save the truth. He wouldn't be stopped. Not by Keel Lorenz. Not be Gendo Ikari. Not by his contacts in the JDA. Not by anyone. They'd have to kill him first.

But until they did he was _here_, in Tokyo-3, the place where all the roads of destiny converged. Kaji was certain he would find the final truth here.

"What the hell are you doing here, Kaji?!"

_Funny thing about the converging roads of destiny_, mused Kaji, _is that you cross paths with the people you thought you'd parted ways with for forever. _"Katsuragi, I was just telling Ritsu here about our date tonight."

Ryoji Kaji and Ritsuko Akagi were camped out at the vending machines that serviced the Command Center. The two old friends were splitting a bag of potato chips over bitter coffee. Misato Katsuragi had stumbled upon the two while she herself went on a coffee break.

"A 'date'? Don't flatter yourself." NERV's Operations Director snorted. "And it's not a date if there're three of us. For your information I'm just coming along to chaperon you in case you try anything _pervy_ with Ritsu."

_She sounds like a pig when she snorts._ Kaji bit his cheek to keep from smiling. "I'm perfectly innocent around Ritsu, Katsuragi."

"Pfft. Right."

"Now around _you_ on the other hand…."

"Pig." Misato swiped her dark crimson NERV-ID card through one of the vending machine scanners. Kaji laughed as he saw her select her snack of choice.

"Look, Ritsu, Misato's hungry for some Ding-Dong action!"

The blonde managed not to laugh. Hunched over her coffee she leaned over towards Kaji and cattily whispered none-too-quietly, "Freudian slip or innocent chocolate craving?"

"Assholes, the both of you." And with that solemn pronouncement Misato crammed one whole sugary treat into her gob.

"Oooo," moaned Kaji, staring intently at Misato's stuffed face. In response she flushed a brilliant shade of red.

"Play nice, children," cautioned Ritsuko. "The Vice-Commander isn't so tolerant of incidents in the workplace when he's the one left in charge."

Taking the advice given to him by the blonde, Kaji changed the subject before he provoked true rage in his favorite belle. "Speaking of Ikari, doesn't the Commander look quite dashing with his new haircut?"

"I kind of liked the beard," offered Ritsuko evenly.

Misato washed her mouth out with hot coffee. "Actually," she said, swirling her black brew, "I never noticed it before but now you can really see the resemblance between him and Shinji."

"Yes," said Ritsuko. "I think everyone did a double-take when he walked into that meeting."

"I wish I had been there," commented Kaji, "if only to see all the jaws on the floor."

Ritsuko stood up and tossed her empty cup in the garbage receptacle. "I could have stood to miss seeing Shinji's reaction."

"I take it the famous Third Child didn't greet his dear old dad's makeover well?"

"No," replied Misato. "God no."

* * *

(A few days ago…)

The assorted NERV department heads crowded the conference room, kibitzing over coffee and baked goods about all manner of business: the minutia of running their own sections, sick children, concerns over the quarterly budget, whose secretary was blowing whom, and whatever people were prone to jabber about when small talk was needed over food. The scheduled meeting's big topic was the newly arrived Unit-02. No one wanted to talk about _that_ though, not in polite company. The maintenance crews were already calling it the "Bloody Eva".

At the back of conference room three teenagers sat in folding chairs.

"You think they could at least spare us something with cushions," groused Asuka, shifting in her seat. "Christ, my ass is already asleep."

Neither Shinji nor Rei spoke against their roommate's sentiment. Their asses too were asleep.

A raven-haired woman in a snappy red uniform walked over to them. At her side followed a blonde woman in a lab coat. Misato Katsuragi smiled for her three charges. "See? Now you'll get to see what goes on at this place day-to-day."

"I'd rather see all those stores you were promising me," said Asuka. "Shopping trip, remember? All-expenses paid? Ring a bell?"

"Yeah, but I can't skip this meeting. But I took the rest of the day off. We'll leave after this finishes."

"When will that be?"

Rei Ayanami, silent since the quartet's arrival in the Geo-Front, supplied the answer, "The meeting is scheduled to conclude at 1200 hours."

"What?!" barked Asuka. "That's, like, forever!"

Misato rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't be a drama queen. It's only three hours. And this way we can leave for the shopping trip straight from NERV." She smiled wryly. "Besides, you three get to skip school. Everyone's happy."

Asuka was aghast. "They're not coming with us, are they?"

"No," said Misato, not missing Shinji's sigh of relief. "They'll be free to go and play hooky."

"Good."

The chattering that filled the room faded away. Someone, somewhere, whispered a "holy shit" too loudly to go unheard by the rest of the assembled personnel. Misato, Ritsuko, and the three Children (Rei belatedly) looked to see the source of the silence.

At the opposite end of the conference room, walking in with the Vice-Commander following at his side like a loyal doggie, Commander Gendo Ikari greeted his underlying with a small, tight smile and a clean-shaven face.

Misato Katsuragi paled a little. The man she was seeing didn't look like the picture she had built up in her head. Removing the beard was just taking away one aspect of the ruthless bastard who ran NERV. If someone had asked Misato before seeing it she would have said that his beard was unimportant (and ugly). Now she was realizing something that everyone else in the room was figuring out at the same time. If you squinted and mentally subtracted the designer orange-tinted glasses and the age lines on his face, you could almost see…

"Freaky," Asuka whispered into Shinji's ear. "Looking at him, it's like I'm seeing your future!"

The glare he immediately shot her was _murderous_. Asuka shut up.

* * *

Kaji tossed away his empty Styrofoam cup. "You gotta admit, the resemblance is uncanny."

"Yeah," said Misato. "Don't ever tell Shinji that."

"I make it a point never to upset beautiful women, restaurant employees who prepare my food, and teens who pilot giant mecha."

Misato frowned. "What about women who aren't beautiful?"

"Katsuragi," he replied with a smile, "every woman is beautiful."

The two stared at each other for a long second before Misato snorted in derision.

Kaji pushed the tip of his nose back with one finger. "You know, you sound like a pig when you do that."

Misato wordlessly pulled back her red uniform jacket, revealing a sidearm holstered in a black shoulder harness.

"Heh," he laughed despite the very serious threat in his ex-lover's eye. _Playing hard to get, eh? _"Yeah, I'll be going now. See you at eight?"

Misato reached for her gun.

* * *

Kozo Fuyutsuki lazily spun himself around in the Commander's desk chair.

The huge, empty office was utterly silent in the morning light. The Geo-Front was a glorious sight through the office's large windows. The sunlight streaming down into it via fiber optic cables made the carefully gardened forests and meadows and lakes of the enclosed cavern sparkle with life. One could almost forget it was all a big fake. Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki didn't care either way. He'd spent so many years looking out onto it to simply accept it for what it was and was able to dismiss it as an irrelevant constant in life. NERV's mock-Eden was old news to Fuyutsuki.

The old man glanced at his gold Rolex and sighed.

_Still have a little time to kill._

So he spun around again.

* * *

Ryoji Kaji hunched over his private office's workstation, typing away at a useless report on quarterly budget overruns while he organized his thoughts on the man at the heart of recent gossip in NERV HQ: the now-beardless bastard, Commander Gendo Ikari.

Kaji reviewed what little anyone knew.

The whole pre-Impact past of Gendo Ikari (_né _Rokubungi) had been erased aside from the dry biographical facts: birth date, high schools attended (seven, two of which he had been expelled from for fighting), certification of a doctorate at Kyoto University, etc. The few records not lost during the chaotic aftermath of the Second Impact were purged during the rampant paranoia of GEHIRN's early years.

GEHIRN had been meticulous in its efforts. For example, the only pre-Impact photograph the Japanese Defense Agency had ever found of Gendo Rokubungi had been a junior high Kendo Club group photo, and even then the JDA had only found a copy of that yearbook because an agent had randomly happened upon it in a garage sale in 2013. All other copies of that and any other yearbook featuring the (formerly) bearded menace had been removed from circulation, public _and_ private. No one in the intelligence business had any such luck with Yui Ikari. The Commander's late wife was a complete blank. Nobody even knew what she looked like.

That was, in the lingo of his profession, scary shit.

The post-Impact history of Gendo Ikari was clearer. He, a no-name scientist of little regard, was somehow selected for a position on the advisory board of the UN's investigation of the Second Impact. He, along with his wife, was a founding member of the Artificial Evolution Lab, GEHIRN's precursor. From there the man had headed both GEHIRN and NERV, orchestrating God knows how many shady backroom deals to ensure the production of Evas in the resource- and cash-strapped post-Impact world. He also ran Tokyo-3 as his own private fiefdom.

But the one thing that everyone in the intelligence business agreed on? He ran his fiefdom very well indeed. Gendo Ikari was a master of organizational skill, controlling NERV through fear and sheer force of will. He had catapulted himself in fifteen years from a nobody grad student to, arguably, the most powerful man in the world.

_But what's his real agenda? A man like doesn't lack ambition. _

It always came back to the questions for Mister Kaji.

* * *

Fuyutsuki decided to rummage through Gendo's drawers for amusement. He was stopped by the fact that every single drawer in the desk was locked, including the cabinet with the booze.

_Bastard._

The Vice-Commander checked his watch again, sighed, then stood up.

_Might as well get on with it._

* * *

Misato Katsuragi felt like crap.

It wasn't the drinking. It wasn't the underlying tension that poisoned her apartment. The Second and Third Child, each straining under the weight of recent events, _that_ she could handle. But putting on a show for the only man she'd ever lo… liked?

_You don't _deal_ with spies like Kaji_, she thought grimly._ You shoot them._

But Misato Katsuragi was a soldier and the Commander had given her explicit orders. She'd meet Kaji and Ritsu for drinks later and have a good time tonight and any other night they went out. She'd be friendly enough towards him as long as she had to.

At least until the Commander told her to move onto Phase 2.

* * *

Kozo Fuyutsuki strolled into the Command Center and went about looking busy.

* * *

Ryoji Kaji was putting the finishing touches on his report when his computer beeped. A NERVnet chat window popped up on the monitor.

**Cassandra:** I KNOW WHO YOU REALLY WORK FOR.

_Interesting._ Mister Kaji considered several possible responses for a moment before typing one in.

**R.Kaji:** AND WHO WOULD THAT BE, STRANGER?

Several seconds passed. Then…

**Cassandra:** YOU WORK FOR YOURSELF.

**Cassandra:** I AM SURE NERV, SEELE, AND THE J.D.A. WOULD BE UNHAPPY TO LEARN THAT.

"Oh fuck me," whispered Kaji. _It's has to be Ikari. _The spy realized with a rage at himself that he didn't have a gun on him. If Section-2 came after him now he wouldn't even have a chance (not that it would be much a chance anyhow). His only hope was that Ikari still wanted something from him, something that required him to be alive (and hopefully not tortured).

**Cassandra:** BE NOT AFRAID, MISTER KAJI.

**Cassandra:** I AM YOUR SECRET FRIEND. I WANT TO HELP YOU.

**Cassandra:** WE WILL TALK AGAIN SOON.

Then, without any input on Kaji's part, the chat window closed. A cursory check of his computer's hard drive should that there was no record of the conversation anywhere. Even the MAGI's stealth keystroke tracker (an easy hack) showed nothing to indicate the one response he'd typed to this 'Cassandra'.

Kaji leaned back in his desk chair. "Well, well. Not here three days and I already made myself a friend." He closed down his computer and grabbed a pack of smokes. The budget report could wait. Mister Kaji needed fresh air.

* * *

"Unit-02 is officially cleared for combat duty, ma'am" said Lt. Ibuki.

Misato blinked. "That was fast."

The younger woman explained, "There wasn't too much damage, really. Most of the armor plates that needed replacing were from where the Russians cut out the Entry Plug. They did a real number on Unit-02's upper back."

The Captain regarded the irritated technician with a humorless smile. "I imagine they were a bit distracted by all their dead and dying crewmates littering the place."

Maya went white. "I… I'm sorry, ma'am."

"There's nothing to be sorry about," replied Misato. "Bad things happen when you fight a war. People die, they get maimed. Sometimes you even have to sit back and watch while everything goes to hell before you can make your move."

"That's horrible."

"It's trite, Maya, but war _is_ hell." _And Asuka knows it now._ Misato asked, "Those tests you and Doctor Akagi ran last night, how did Asuka do?"

"Um, well, she didn't exactly like being n-"

Maya's voice was lost in a storm of alarms.

* * *

Fuyutsuki sighed when the Command Center's klaxons exploded to life. His quiet despondency went unnoticed as all other eyes in the room turned to the main holographic projector.

"We've just received a report from the Battle Cruiser _Haruna_," announced Lt. Aoba. "Huge submerged object detected off Kii peninsula. Sending data."

"Data retrieved. Analyzing." A few second later Lt. Hyuga reported, "Blood pattern is a confirmed Blue. It's an Angel."

Misato Katsuragi and several technicians turned their eyes to the Vice-Commander. As the officer in charge it fell to him to give the orders in this situation. They also looked to him for reassurance. He was by far the more loved of the two Commanders. However, had they known what was thought was running through his head they would have been anything but reassured about the coming battle.

_God,_ Fuyutsuki thought to himself,_ this is going to be SO embarrassing._

"All personnel," he announced boldly, "go to First Stage Alert!"

* * *

# # # To Be Continued

* * *

_**Author's Notes: **__Chapter 11 is going to be an experiment in breaking up these huge chapters I've been writing into more manageable chunks. Rather than spend a solid month churning out another 15,000+ word mega-chapter I'm going to try a more manageable approach. Each of these chunks will be more focused on a specific character or set of characters rather than a cast of thousands. I also don't want to go over five thousand words or so. This should hopefully decrease my production time and make proofreading easier (I do my own)._

_The next chunk to be posted won't be labeled "Chapter 12" or have its own subtitle. It'll just fall under the umbrella of Chapter 11. It'll be up in a few days.  
_

_Chapter 11 will be fairly "domestic" (save for the two Gendo chunks), setting up the new status quo in Tokyo-3 for the rest of Book 1. My __tentative__ schedule for the chunks is as follows:_

_1. Kaji / Misato_

_2. Hikari / Shinji_

_3. Asuka _

_4. Gendo 01_

_5. Tokyo-3 Cast_

_6. Gendo 02_

_7. All-star wrap up_

**UP NEXT: Hikari Horaki and Shinji Ikari**


	13. Threesomes: Hikari Horaki

Author's Note: Due to FFnet's restrictions on the usage of certain characters, the mathematical symbol for "equals" will be represented by "is".

* * *

11b: Hikari Horaki

* * *

When night came the Horakis turned their porch light on.

In the family room of the house two girls sat next to each other on a sofa. A bowl of popcorn rested between them. An old black and white movie played on the TV.

Hikari sighed into her drink, a diet cola on ice. "I just don't understand him."

"That's because he's a boy," declared Kodama. She paused to fish a bit of popcorn shell from her teeth. "Boys are stupid like that."

"No, I mean I just don't understand him. He's always so... so distant. Like he doesn't care what's happening around him."

"So he's cold. Dad says Shinji's father has the same reputation at work, just more dastardly."

"No. It's not that." Hikari munched on some popcorn. Once she finished chewing she swallowed before speaking again. "It's like he's, I dunno, afraid. I think. Maybe."

"That's some stunning observational analysis, sis."

"Shut up, Kodama."

The older sister snickered. "Touched a nerve, did I?"

"_No_."

Kodama Horaki stretched out, uncurling her folded legs from her warm spot on the couch. "I think it's so cute. My widdle sis has a widdle cwush."

Hikari blushed. "I do not!"

The older girl swooned melodramatically. "I'm Hikari and I have an unrequited luuuuvvv for the sensitive war hero. If only he could look past his stoic duty and see my womanly pig-tails. Oh! I feel faint!"

A pillow to her sister's face was the younger Horaki's response. Kodama retaliated by dumping the half-empty popcorn bowl on Hikari's head. "Ack!" screamed the Class Rep. "You're getting food EVERWHERE!"

"Oh hush. I'll clean it up later."

Hikari wrung her hands. "But… but we'll get _bugs_!"

Kodama paused the VCR. "…fine. I'll do it now, okay?" She got down off the couch, picked up the fallen bowl, then began collecting the scattered popcorn and odd errant kernel. "OCD much?"

Hikari kneeled down and helped. "I just like a clean home."

"Sometimes it's fun to get dirty."

Hikari didn't roll her eyes at her sister's lecherous remark. She was use to them. Soon the two Horaki girls cleaned the couch and surrounding floor space of snack food. Movie forgotten, they ventured into the kitchen to resupply themselves for the rest of the night.

"You should ask him out!" yelled Kodama over the fridge's noisy ice machine.

Hikari was horrified. "I can't do that!"

"Why not?" Kodama set their glasses down on the countertop. She looked to her left and flashed her younger sister a sly smile. Hikari avoided her by busying herself with refilling their drinks with the sweaty pitcher cradled in her hands. "Is it because he's the boy and you're the girl?"

"It wouldn't be proper." Hikari walked around Kodama, studiously avoiding eye contact. "He'd be embarrassed."

"So?"

"So?!"

"This is about _you_, not him. Don't ever put a man ahead of your own wants, sis. They'll just walk all over you then and you'll never be happy."

The microwave dinged. Hikari removed the popcorn bag. "That's pretty selfish."

"Maybe, but that doesn't make it any less true."

Hikari tore open the bag. Hot steam smelling of butter piped out the top. "I don't even know if I like him. He's a friend, I think. And… and what if he said no? I don't want him to avoid me if I, er, y'know."

"Then you tell a little joke so neither of feels awkward and you'll never talk about it again. It's not that hard."

"Maybe not for you."

"Sis, you're never going to get laid with _that_ attitude."

Hikari, holding the fresh bowl of popcorn in one hand, picked up her drink with her other. "Just don't dump this bowl over my head, okay?"

* * *

The next day at lunch Hikari found Shinji Ikari in an odd mood.

"Hello, Shinji," she said, offering him a stack of printouts. "Here's everything for yesterday."

He stared at her, then at the papers. "Right," he said, taking the offering.

"And here's your lunch. I know you like seaweed so-"

"Thanks." He nibbled on his bottom lip. "Hikari?"

The pig-tailed girl settled down in a desk opposite him. She laid out her own lunch spread. "Yes?"

"Can I ask you something… personal?"

Her heart fluttered. _See, Kodama? He came through. _"Sure! Anything!"

"Do you look like your mother?"

"…huh?"

"Nothing," he said quickly, standing up. "Forget about it. Thanks for the lunch but, uh, I'm not feeling hungry."

The Eva pilot hurried out of the classroom. His unopened bento box sat forgotten on his desk.

* * *

Later, after dismissal, Hikari found herself attending to her cleaning duties as a Class Rep; erasers needed clapping, floors sweeping, and trash burning. After that was taken care of, Hikari didn't go straight home as usual, nor did she join the other Class Reps for a study session or trip to the local Starbucks. Instead, she bummed around the school building, wandering the halls of memory as she considered the peculiar situation she was in.

It wasn't that lacked interest in Shinji, just that Hikari Horaki wasn't her sister. She liked order, tradition. She herself recognized that it was a trait others found strange in a fourteen year old. Teenagers were supposed to be rebellious. Hikari was painfully aware that she was not.

_Why can't he say something_, she thought to herself, _and make things right? Is he totally clueless?_

So wrapped up in thoughts was Hikari that she didn't realize someone was talking to her until the other person put a hand on her shoulder.

"GAH!" yelped Hikari, spinning around.

"Whoa," said the stranger, "no need to freak out on me. Jeez. I was just asking a question."

"I'm sorry," apologized Hikari, "but you startled me. I was… thinking about things."

The stranger, a redhead European or American girl Hikari's age, nodded. "Yeah," she said evenly, "I get that." She paused. "Asuka," she said, offering a free hand. "Asuka Langley Soryu. Charmed, huh?"

She studied the strange girl. Her posture was completely open. She stood straight up. Her voice only had one volume level and it was _loud_. This girl was the person Kodama, in all her rebelliousness, was always trying to be against her better nature.

"Very," said Hikari, taking the hand. Asuka's grip was firm. "I'm Hikari Horaki, the Class Representative for 2-A."

"What, that's like Class President or something?"

"Sort of." She glanced over the redhead's shoulder. "What were you doing wandering around at this time of day?"

"I came to sign all this paperwork or some crap so I could start tomorrow, only once I was finished my ride never came – the bitch – and I got bored. So I went and threw some hoops. I like to keep busy."

Hikari guessed that already. Standing near her was like getting an adrenalin contact high. Not that Hikari Horaki was the sort to know what a contact high was. "So you're the new Eva pilot."

Asuka looked surprised at that comment. Hikari was surprised herself. Shouldn't she have softened such a statement by phrasing it in the form of a question? _Kodama is finally getting to me after all_. "I was given your contact information since you're transferring here. Since you're living with Captain Katsuragi it only seemed logical." Then, so as not to seem arrogant, she added, "Also, Shinji and Ayanami mentioned you."

"Ah." She paused, searching momentarily for something to say. Then she asked, "So, 'Shinji', huh? You know the Third Child."

"We're friends."

"Really? He hasn't mentioned you before."

"He hasn't?"

Asuka shook her head. "No. Sorry."

"Oh."

"So," said Asuka, "care to show me around the place?"

"Yes, of course!" Hikari shifted back into 'Class Rep' mode. "Well, right now we're standing in the…."

* * *

Hikari covered the simmering pot with a heavy lid, then set the whole thing on the back-left burner to keep. "A new girl transferred into my class today," she told Kodama, who had fortified herself at the kitchen table behind an array of textbooks and technical manuals. Nozomi, blissfully, was occupied by a shojo anime blasting on the family room's TV. "She's another Eva pilot."

Kodama looked up from the graphing calculator in her hands. "What, the big red one that Dad was talking about?"

"I guess. She didn't say."

"Huh." Kodama turned most of her attention back to studying. "What's she like?"

Hikari tapped her wooden spoon twice on the rim of the sauce pan, flicking off the bits sticking to it. "She reminds me of you."

"God, I'm _sorry_. First me at home and now this girl at school? I can't imagine putting up with a me twenty-four seven."

"She's European," continued Hikari. "German. Red hair. Pretty."

"Hmm." Kodama absentmindedly tossed one textbook aside and scrounged around in the pile of books on the table for another one. After a moment she pulled out a thin blue book. "The boys will be beating each other up with clubs to get to her."

"More than likely." Hikari sprinkled some salt into the brewing sauce. "Suzahara and Aida will be selling pictures of her by lunchtime tomorrow."

Kodama arched an eyebrow. "You have creepy taste in friends."

"They're not my friends. I'm just–"

"–responsible for them. Yeah, yeah. Hurrah for the Class Rep." Kodama closed her calculator with a clacking of the plastic casing. "So did you ask Shinji out yet?"

Hikari tended to her stove.

"You didn't."

Hikari picked up the sauce pan and poured its contents over a waiting platter of grilled fish.

"Damn it, Hikari."

"Watch your language in my kitchen."

Kodama sighed. "Yes, mother."

* * *

That night her father, in an unusual move, stopped by her bedroom.

"Sweetheart?"

"Come in, Daddy."

The door slid open. Her father, dressed in his pale beige NERV uniform, stood in the entranceway. Once again he had missed dinner and arrived home only as his three daughters were settling in for the night.

"How was your day?" he asked.

"Normal. And your's?"

"Same ol', same ol'." He glanced over his shoulder, back down the dark hallway. Then he stepped inside and slid the door shut behind him. "I have a favor to ask," he said quietly.

_Fiddlesticks. _"What is it, Daddy?"

"Did a new girl transfer into your class today?"

Hikari shook her head. "Just for paperwork and a tour; she starts tomorrow."

"Ah." He paused. "Hikari, keep an eye on her."

"…okay?"

"I've heard some… things about the Second Child." It took Hikari a second to place that designation. She had heard Shinji referred to as the 'Third' by Ayanami and Asuka but she herself was used to thinking of the pilots by their proper names. _Asuka must be the Second Child. Good to know. _"I can't tell you much. The less you know the better. Just… keep an eye on her for any abnormal behavior."

"Abnormal behavior?"

Her father nodded. "Yes."

"…"

"Can you do that for me?"

"I… don't know."

Her father frowned.

"I just met her," Hikari explained, "and she's a foreigner. I don't know how she'd _normally_ act."

Her father relaxed. "Okay. I understand. But watch out for her."

"I'll try."

That satisfied her father. "Goodnight, sweetheart."

It took Hikari some time to fall asleep that night.

* * *

The redheaded gaijin scrawled her name in large, elegant cursive on the blackboard. Then, in one smooth move, she tossed the chalk to the side, spun around in a flourish of crimson hair, and flashed a brilliant smile.

"I'm Asuka! Asuka Langley Soryu!"

The telltale hushed chatter of gossip washed over the classroom. Hikari let it go for a few seconds. It went against official protocol to let students talk so openly during class time but Hikari found that if everyone had a chance to say something, if just a few words, they were less likely to be disruptive after the hammer came down.

3… 2… 1…

Hikari stood. "Quiet!"

And it was so.

The Class Rep glanced over at the redhead. The amused smirk and arched eyebrow on the gaijin's face almost made Hikari do a double-take. Before Hikari said anything Asuka strode forward and sat down in the seat furthest back in the classroom. The heads of all the boys and most of the girls followed her as she walked past them.

_Showoff,_ thought Hikari, not entirely disapproving. _Just like Kodama._

* * *

"Pictures? I don't know what you mean, Class Rep."

"Don't play dumb with me, Kensuke Aida!" Hikari glared at the freckled boy. When she had spotted him walking the halls with a strange black bag slung over his shoulder she had followed him up to the roof. There she had cornered him against the chain-link fence. "I know that camera bag! You're trying to sneak photos of the new girl!"

"D-don't be silly! I wo-"

"_'Silly'?" _Kensuke Aida winced. Hikari, knowing no one was watching, savored the moment; then she got down to business. "The _dignity_ of a girl is anything but _silly_, Mister Aida. If you think you can mock that dignity with your dirty photo scam then you have another thing coming."

"I'msorry!I'msorry!"

"Open the bag."

"…"

"Open the bag or you'll be working clean up duty for the rest of the year."

Kensuke sighed, then opened the bag. There was a host of camera goodies inside, several designed for long-range image captures, just as Hikari suspected.

Hikari put on her best 'disappointed mother' look, the special one she usually reserved for Kodama when her older sister crossed the line twice.

"I can explain!" blurted Kensuke. "It's all innocent! I'm innocent!"

"Tell it to the mop and bucket." Hikari spun around and walked for the roof access. "If I see so much as a single glamour shot of her or any other girl for sale this year you'll be scrubbing floors until THE END OF THE WORLD!!"

(That threat, incidentally, wouldn't have been such an empty one if either Kensuke or Hikari had any inkling of what was going to happen in the coming months. Alas, they didn't, and so we move on with our story.)

Kensuke Aida muttered, "Great. Now she'll kill me."

Hikari smirked.

* * *

Like they had done occasionally for the past few weeks, Hikari walked part of the way home with Shinji and Ayanami. Today all three had been on cleaning duty so they'd been able to leave at the same time. Usually Hikari's Class Representative duties kept her after school too long to met up with the two Eva pilots. Asuka had left earlier, stating that she had business at NERV.

Conversation with Shinji was a no-go, however. The boy was stuck in the same funk he had been in for the last few days. Surprisingly, the walk wasn't silent because of his mood.

"Miss Horaki," softly spoke the pale girl, "what is it like to leave one's home?"

Hikari blinked, caught off-guard by the fact Rei had been the one to initiate the conversation. "What do you mean, Ayanami?"

"Your family moved to Tokyo-3 in 2008, correct?"

"How on Earth did you know that?"

"It was in your father's NERV employee file," calmly replied Rei.

"What?"

"It was in your fa-"

"I know _that! _What I'm asking is how you were able to read it!"

"I, like Shinji, have security clearance at NERV."

"Oh." _That makes sense. Creepy, but it makes sense. _"Yes. Before that my family lived in New Kyoto."

_And then,_ Hikari remembered, _Mother died and Father was hired by NERV._

Rei's crimson eyes met Hikari's dusky blues. "What did you experience emotionally after moving to this city?"

"…"

Rei stared at her. Hikari, not wanting to waste this rare opportunity to connect with a girl who always seemed lonely, drew her strength up and explained:

"Well, I… I was lonely at first." _There was no one to be my mother anymore except me. _

"I found ways to keep busy." _I smashed my piggy bank so I could buy a small step-ladder so I'd be able to reach the stove. Father never asked me where or how I got it when he walked in that night. _

"We moved between school terms so there wasn't any good chance to meet other kids." _Father had to work so much we just stayed home for weeks. He said it was dangerous to go out with all the construction going on, even with him watching them. _

"But then school started and I made friends."

_The teacher looked over the handful of seated students. "I need a volunteer to help me o-" and before he finished speaking her hand shot up, much to the disgust of the kids around her._

_"Suck up," muttered a freckled boy._

Rei nodded. "I see."

"Did that answer your question?"

"No." The pale girl looked straight ahead. "My question was in error. F-forgive me."

Hikari normally would have let matters go at that but there was a hitch in Ayanami's voice as she spoke those last words. "Are you alright, Ayanami?"

"I am well," stiffly replied the pale girl.

Nothing more was said by anyone on the rest of the walk home.

* * *

Kodama had a date that night so it fell to Hikari to oversee Nozomi. The youngest Horaki was having problems with her math homework and Hikari was trying her best to bring Nozomi up to snuff on the standards set in the Horaki Household.

"So the '_x_' is the variable here," explained Hikari, tapping a trim nail on the notepad. "Everything you need to figure out '_x_' is inside the equation."

Nozomi nibble on her eraser. "So… it's like a riddle?"

She nodded. "Now what is '_x_' here?"

(4 + _x_ is 9)

"That's easy," said Nozomi, despite making chicken scratch on her work paper to do the math. Unlike their Father, Kodama and, to a lesser extent, Hikari, little Nozomi was appallingly bad at math. This sometimes led to friction when Kodama grew frustrated with her little sister's valiant but useless efforts. Just yesterday Kodama had snapped and accused Nozomi of being an embarrassment to the women of science. Hikari had pointedly excused her elder sister for the next few study session. "It's five."

"That's right." Hikari wrote out another equation. "How about here?"

(4 + _y_ is 9)

"It's… five?"

Hikari nodded. "Why?"

"Because… uh…"

"Come on."

"Because it's the same math thing, just with a different letter?"

"Right! Even if you change the _symbol_ of the variable it's still the same variable in the same equation. A change in appearance means nothing." Hikari wrote out a new equation. "See?"

(_y_ + 4 is 9)

Nozomi rolled her eyes. "It's five, Hikari."

"Exactly. See? You're catching on. Even if you change the order of things the end result will be the same!"

The younger girl smiled dubiously at Hikari's appraisal. "Okay?"

"Now try this one…"

(_y_ + 2 is 9 + _x_)

(_x_ is 8)

"Wait, if I know this one," she indicated the _x_ with a slim finger, "they why even have it?"

"Because," explained Hikari, "sometimes even if it's a variable you can still know what it is."

"But if you know what it is then how is it a variable? Don't they, uh, vary?" The youngest Horaki paused to mentally review her last statement. When she was satisfied with its correctness she repeated more definitively, "Don't they _vary_?"

Hikari smiled. "I know, but you still need to consider them variables because they _could_ change. See, what if I went back to the beginning and changed one thing? Here…."

(_x_ is 18)

Nozomi sighed. "Math isn't for me."

Hikari turned over the page. Fresh white paper spread out before the two girls. "Let's take it one more time from the top and then get to work on dinner."

"Can I help slice the veggies?"

"_Vegetables_," corrected Hikari. "And yes, you can, _if_ you can solve this one…."

* * *

The next day at lunch Hikari Hokari spotted something unsettling outside the classroom 2-A windows. Up across the 'L' building junction someone was leaning against the roof's chain link fence. Hikari recognized the 'someone' as Shinji Ikari. She didn't need to guess at the owner of the mop of light blue hair standing next to him. The two pilots were talking and from what Hikari could read of their body language it was an _intense_ conversation.

Maybe even… passionate?

"Christ," said Asuka, jolting Hikari out of her trance with a sudden appearance at her side, "you look like someone just killed your dog. What's up?"

"N-nothing." Hikari turned away from the window. _God, I look like a stalker._

Asuka glanced up, out the window and spotted her fellow pilots. She paused for several LONG seconds before saying, "_Please_ tell me you're a lesbian."

Hikari, used to receiving similar attitude from her elder sister, merely smiled at the pretty gaijin girl.

The redhead cringed. "Ugh. _Mein Gott, _you have terrible tas–"

"He's sensitive!" snapped Hikari. "And cute!"

The pig-tailed girl immediately clamped her hands over her mouth. A quick glance around the half-empty classroom showed that either no one had heard or that they were savvy enough not to show that they had (would this be blackmail material, she wondered).

Asuka rolled her eyes. Still, she took a half step closer (which Hikari knew was unusual – the gaijin girl liked her personal space) and said in a quieter voice, "So when are you going to ask him out?"

"I… I don't…."

"Because he's not going to ask you out," explained Asuka. She reached out and touched Hikari's arm. The Class Rep managed not to jerk away. "It's nothing personal. I mean, I don't know if he likes you or not. He won't tell me–"

_"You asked him?!"_

"–but," she continued, ignoring Hikari's freakout, "even if he does he'll never ask you out."

"Huh? Why wo–"

"Hikari, he's a wimp."

"He's not," she replied. "Anyone who gets into one of those Evas can't be."

"…True," conceded Asuka, frowning just a bit as if upset at the thought of giving ground. "But, Hikari, there's a world of difference between getting into an Eva to kill Angels and being able to ask a cute girl out. Even a coward can save the world if he doesn't want to die."

"…"

"So ask him out. Lord knows why you want to, but, hey, who am I to judge? Aside from apparently being the last sane woman in the room, that is." Asuka twirled around. Hikari felt an odd stab of jealousy at the girl's red hair. "And Hikari?"

"Yes?"

Without looking over her shoulder Asuka said, "Trust me when I say that there's absolutely _nothing_ to worry about with Shinji the Hero and Ayanami's relationship."

"**Why?**" blurted Hikari.

That got Asuka to look back. "Huh?"

"W-w-why should I trust you? About them?"

"Because," said Asuka, "Shinji _hates_ Rei."

* * *

**"BLUUURPGCH!" **

Hikari bundled her sister Kodama's long black hair in one hand. She made sure to keep the mane high and dry, away from the heaving girl slumming on the bathroom's tiled floor. With her free hand Hikari tenderly rubbed her elder sister's back. The whole series of movements on Hikari's part were fluid; there were no hitches. Hikari had had a lot of practice with this particular maneuver; Kodama Horaki did so love to party.

Kodama Horaki's series of movement were less graceful, though more fluid.

**"huuuuurrGUHH!"**

Hikari wrinkled her nose at the sour smell that wafted up from the toilet bowl. "Cosmopolitans again? You know what vodka does to your stomach!"

"Y-yes… _pfttt… _mother," sniped Kodama, pausing to spit some lingering bile into the bowl. The older girl brought a hand up and wiped her red, tearing eyes. "Men are such _bastards_."

"Hmmm," she coooed softly.

"Men are bastards but med students are the worst. They're dogs, Hikari. I can't… I can't be… believe… be-**ughBLARRRRGH!**"

A good quarter hour passed by as Kodama Horaki alternatively damned the whole male gender or worshipped before the porcelain goddess. Afterwards Hikari cleaned up her sister and helped her into bed.

"Just rest, okay?" Hikari drew the blinds to shield against the harsh light that would otherwise flood the room the next morning. "Dad's working late so you've escape justice once again."

"Ugggghh." Kodama threw an arm over her eyes. "Men suck."

Hikari set a pot down next to Kodama's bed. "So you tell me."

"Men suck, suck, suck."

"Hmmm." Hikari bent over to tuck her sister in.

Kodama threw her arm off, rolled her head to the side, and stared into Hikari's eyes. "You didn't ask that boy out, did you?"

"Aren't you supposed to be drunk?"

"Hikari, I am not drunk. I am _smashed_." She grinned. Her eyes were out of focus. "But enough about me. I wanna get my little sister laid. Gotta pop that cherry."

Hikari blushed. "You're drunk."

"Do you ever use that birthday present I got you?"

Hikari blushed harder at the thought of the 'present', still in its original packaging, stuffed in the back of the third drawer on her dresser. "N-no!"

"Well if you're not using the batteries I need new ones."

Having had enough, the middle Horaki girl stood up and made a beeline for the door. "Goodnight, Kodama."

"Gotta get yee forth and multiplying."

Hikari closed the door. "Goodnight," she whispered.

"BE FRUITFUL!" raved Kodama, shouting to make herself heard out in the darkened hallway. "Spank his bony ass!"

* * *

Sometimes life hinges on big things, like unworthy bastards being thrown back in time by ill-defined forces in order to change history. Sometimes a person's life pivots on smaller act, like pausing in the middle of your own maddeningly busy day to help that cute chick from Accounting collect all those papers she just dropped only to make conversation and find out that, hey, she digs John Coltrane too!

And then, once in a great while, shit just occurs to people.

Hikari Horaki was walking to school in the early morning when _it_ happened to her:

The sky overhead was bright and blue.

The cicadas sang their song somewhere off-screen.

A compact truck with a dent in the center-right of its front bumper piped past.

_I like Shinji_, she decided in a moment of clarity. _So I'm going to ask him out._

This declaration startled Hikari. She stopped dead in her tracks and reevaluated what she had just thought. When she found nothing to upset her line of reasoning (which in itself was a tad shocking) the Class Rep carried on with her walk.

* * *

Later, after she had attended to her morning pre-school duties, Hikari spotted Shinji Ikari coming through the gates at the front of the school alongside his fellow pilots. Ducking out of the classroom, the Class Rep quickly (but not _too_ quickly, one had to be mindful of appearances) made her way down to schoolyard. She arrived just as the threesome was making its way through the front door.

"Good morning!"

"H-Hikari," sputtered Shinji, headphones from his SDAT player fixed firmly in his ears.

Asuka fumed, "Aren't you supposed to say something, Third Child?"

"Huh?"

The redhead snorted and turned to Hikari. "Shinji says 'good morning' too."

"Sorry," said Shinji.

Rei Ayanami studied the whole exchange with uncharacteristic curiosity. She tilted her head to address the girl at her left. "Soryu, is this one of the rituals we discussed?"

"Shhhhh!" shushed Asuka. The gaijin girl grabbed hold of Ayanami's nearest hand and dragged her inside. "God!" rang the girl's fading voice, "I can't believe I…"

Hikari suddenly found herself alone with Shinji.

_Very_ alone.

"Shinji…"

The Third Child stared at her, his expression informing her that he didn't _quite_ understand what was going on. _At least he pocketed his SDAT,_ Hikari reassured herself.

Over Shinji's shoulder she spotted more stragglers coming through the school gates. "Shinji," she said, "let's go someplace quieter."

As Asuka had with Rei, Hikari dragged Shinji away. Heart racing, Hikari brought the Eva pilot to the side of the school. The refuge wasn't entirely private. There were a few bushes and trees dotting the place to provide ambiance but there were other students milling about. One or two were sneaking smokes. Hikari made a mental note of their names so to write them up later.

"Um," said Shinji, dropping his book bag to the ground but keeping a death grip on the shoulder strap in his right hand, "I think class is supposed to start soon. Shouldn't we b-"

"Wouldyouliketogooutsometime?"

Shinji blinked. "Huh?"

Hikari blushed.

"I'm s-sorry. Could you repeat that?"

Hikari took a breath, held it, then released it. "Shinji," she said, pulse pounding, "would you like to go out with me on a d-"

His cell phone rang. Shinji's eyes darted down towards his backpack. Quicker than she liked he dropped down and fished the cell out from the cluttered bag. "Angel attack." He looked up at her. "I… I have to go. They'll be waiting."

"Yeah," she said weakly.

Shinji stood up and slung his backpack over one shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow? Hopefully."

She smiled weakly. "Well, unless I turn invisible or something!"

_Oh God. That's the BEST I can come up with?!_

They both chuckled politely at the lame joke.

Shinji left without another word. When he was out of sight Hikari brought her hands up and hid her face in them. "Stupid! Stupid!" She sniffled. "God, I can't believe I embarrassed myself like that."

"Don't beat yourself up, Class Rep."

Hikari whipped around, unmindful of her tearing eyes. "Suzahara?"

Touji Suzahara and his shadow, Kensuke Aida, were approaching her. Turning away from them, she furtively dried her eyes. She snapped, "Don't sneak up a girl like that!"

"Yeah. Sorry about 'dat." The tall boy shuffled his feet. "Look, its okay. He's nothin' special, Class Rep."

"Touji's right," chirped Kensuke. "There plenty more fish in the sea."

"What?" Hikari glanced over her shoulder and glared at the two teens. "Like you, Aida? Or you?"

Suzahara brought his hands up defensively, warding off her attacks. "Whoa, chill! That's not what we were takin' about, Class Rep. We was just trying to be helpful, that's all. No need to bite our heads off."

"No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled. I was just d… wait, what were you two doing here anyways? I left you upstairs."

"Uhhh," said Aida, clutching something behind his back.

"Well," said Touji, "you see, we were go-"

"Is that a video camera?"

"No," lied Aida, fumbling with what he was holding behind his back. "Not at all."

"Y…you were trying to videotape us… me! Me and Shinji!" Hikari scowled at her slip. _There is no 'us'._

Touji Suzahara sighed. "Okay. Yeah. We were. But see, it was h-"

"Assholes!" snapped Hikari. "The both of you!"

The jaws of the two boys dropped at the obscenity taking flight from the Class Rep's lips. "I'm going to the nurse's station," said Hikari, striding past the duo. "I'd hurry to class. Maybe Sensei will only force you to carry one bucket if you sprint."

Satisfied and yet not, Hikari walked away.

"Turn invisible?" she mumbled under her breath. "God, I wish I could."

* * *

# # # To Be Continued

* * *

**Author's Notes**: The Shinji portion of this piece got split off onto its own. It'll follow Asuka's and Rei's. All the "chunks", or these short chapters, prior to Gendo's will overlap with one another and end with the arrival of the 7th Angel. We'll find out just how things went in Gendo's chunk.

**NEXT UP: Asuka Langley Soryu**


	14. Threesomes: Asuka and Rei

11c: Asuka Langley Soryu and Rei Ayanami

* * *

_We are bathed in LCL, the lifeblood. _

_I see through their eyes and they through mine. There is hunger in their gaze, loneliness in their empty laugh. They _want_. I was once like them. Perhaps one day soon they will become what I am. Perhaps one day soon we will all be free at las—_

_No._

We_ are not bathed in it. _They_ are not watching me with curiosity. There is only _"I"_._

I_ am Rei Ayanami._

I_ am I._

I_ am _I_. _

"Okay," called the voice of Doctor Akagi, "that should do it for today."

There is a hiss as the LCL drains from the Upload Tube. As it does so, Rei Ayanami's mind folds its wings back into the meat of her human form. The disorientation of place and confusion of identity she feels as she finds herself grounded once again in a limited form is almost a comfort to her, a reminder that she isn't human. She does her best never to forget that fact.

Rei knew that thinking of herself as a human could… **would**… make things _difficult _in the end. Rei Ayanami the Human was a fiction – one that the people her knew her true nature obeyed in public to keep up appearances. The Commander never treated her as a human despite his affection for her, a fact she was subconsciously grateful for. Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki didn't care either way. Doctor Akagi hated her, though Rei wasn't sure why.

The Commander handed her a soft towel. Unselfconscious of her own nudity, she dried the dripping hair that clung to her head.

"I will be leaving for Berlin tomorrow to attend a conference," he told her. "Fuyutsuki will be in charge of all non-combat operations here until my return."

Rei didn't nod, didn't blink. She accepted this information without response.

The Commander adjusted his glasses. "Have you thought of a question?"

It was like this every time. The Commander would come to her and ask her for a question. Rei, in turn, would supply one. Whatever answers came, Rei conjectured, were meant to improve her livelihood. Rei found the whole process to be lacking in some vital quality. She had come to find that she didn't even know how to ask worthwhile questions, questions that didn't waste the Commander's time. It was a problem she had kept hidden for weeks. But now…

"Yes," she said. "How is this exercise supposed to aid me in learning the value of continuing my existence past the completion of my purpose?"

The Commander stared back at her.

"…"

"…"

Thirty seconds passed. Then a minute.

"Rei," he said at last, turning his head to indicate the dark, wrap-around tank on the opposite side of the chamber, "what would happen if I destroyed all the spares?"

"The Dummy Plug Project would be indefinitely postponed until suitable replacements could be cultivated and matured," Rei replied. "If my current body were killed during that interim than I would be lost beyond the possibility of resurrection." She suppressed a shiver of forbidden desire at that last thought. "Also, the loss of the Dummy Plug Project would be a blow to your standing before SEELE."

The Commander nodded. "All true, but that was not the aim of my question. Allow me to rephrase: if all your spare bodies were destroyed, how would it affect _you_?"

"…"

He waited.

At last she replied, "I would be unique."

Unique.

One of a kind.

Irreplaceable.

Rei hoped the fearful tremble in her knees escaped the Commander's notice. She suspected it hadn't.

"What if," the Commander retrieved a PDA from inside his uniform jacket, "I destroyed them right now?"

Rei's response was instant. "You will not."

"Oh?" His tone was touched with haughtiness. "Why not?"

"If you destroy the clones you will have no control over me."

He frowned. "You'd kill yourself, wouldn't you?" He slipped the PDA back into jacket. "You'd walk straight over to the medical wing, find a scalpel, and slash your own throat as soon as I did it."

_Yes_. "No."

"Hmph."

"Also," she added, "you will not destroy them because there is the ever-present risk that I will die during an Angel encounter and need replacement. A fully-functional Dummy Plug may even be necessary in the event that Pilots Ikari, Soryu, or myself are unable to pilot."

"True," he said. "It is wise to prepare contingencies." The Commander smirked. "That lesson is one SEELE takes to heart with their Dummy Plug Project."

The First Child gasped. The act shocked both of them. Rei was the first to recover her wits. "Th-there is another Dummy Plug Project?"

"Yes." The Commander adjusted his glasses. "It is a secret of theirs that neither of us is supposed to be privy to." Rei understood. "They imagine it to be an ace up their sleeve come endgame."

"Who functions as the template?"

"A boy," the Commander replied. "He is like you."

"Like… me?"

"He is a nephilim, though his genome is based on ADAM instead of Lilith. He is the Seventeenth and Final Angel. His name is _Tabris_."

Rei processed the revelation that there was another one of her race.

"I'm afraid you're just like all the rest of us poor souls," quipped the Commander as he turned and walked out of the Dummy Plug Production Plant. "Not entirely unique, no matter what you do." He paused in the doorway. "A good question, Rei. For once."

Gendo Ikari left the room. The First Child followed soon after, never once looking back at the darkened tank behind her. Her ears, however, couldn't block out the deep, steady pulse of the Plant's cooling system.

* * *

Asuka Langley Soryu stared down at the unopened SDAT player packaged on her bedroom's desk and sighed. It, like the rest of the belongings in her bedroom, was brand new; the product of a long (and, she begrudgingly admitted, fun) shopping trip with Misato. Everything that needed replacing from the _Over the Rainbow_ had been found, purchased, brought to the apartment, unpacked, washed, dried, sorted, and put away – all bar the SDAT player. It was a sign, Asuka decided, though a sign of what exactly she didn't know.

The strangest thing for Asuka was that she found she didn't miss any of her old crap. It should have bothered her, losing all her clothes and shoes and books and _stuff_. Sure, she couldn't replace some of her European designer labels without having it shipped internationally (which was prohibitively expense to do), but Tokyo-3 was cosmopolitan enough to host such a diverse spread of upscale shops that it didn't really matter.

Even her photos – the only irreplaceable thing in her cargo – she found she could live without. None of the people in them really mattered. It hurt that some of her early ones of Kaji were gone but thankfully her former guardian had kept a few copies of those for himself. The fact that Kaji kept photos of her greatly pleased Asuka. He'd presented her with a small album of them early that afternoon, right before ducking out for an 'urgent' meeting with Doctor Akagi.

Asuka wondered darkly if the meeting would take place in the blonde woman's skirt.

About the only thing she really _did_ miss was the one thing NERV wouldn't spring the dough to replace – her prized MiniPlayer. "Digital music players are a luxury good," Misato had insisted, "and I can't explain its price as a justifiable business expense when there are perfectly good CD and SDAT players for sale at a fraction of the price."

Asuka almost bought the MiniPlayer on her own, just to spite Misato and the stingy bastards at NERV, but even she couldn't bring herself to drop the equivalent of 600 euros on a top-of-the-line 10 GB MiniPlayer. She barely had any money as it was because of her pre-cruise shopping spree in Germany (the result of which was now on the bottom of the ocean). Splurging like that would leave her totally at the tender mercies of Misato, which was Something to Be Avoided at All Costs.

This left her with a SDAT player, a handful of cassette tapes instead of a thousand songs available with the push of a button, and an evening with nothing to do but sit around the apartment and socialize with Shinji Ikari and Rei Ayanami.

_It _is_ a sign alright – a sign that I need to escape from the boring little people._

Asuka cracked open the SDAT player's packaging and then put fresh batteries and a tape of appropriate mood music into the device. She threw on her headphones and clipped the music player to the waist of her jeans. Pausing only to put a new can of mace into her new purse, Asuka strutted out of her bedroom and made for the door.

She passed Shinji in the kitchen. He was cooking something on the stove. It smelled weird and… it was fish. Asuka blanched. "I'm going out. I'll be back later."

The Third Child turned away from the stove. _God, is he wearing an apron?_ "Oh, okay." He paused. "Dinner's in half an hour."

Asuka glanced at the sizzling fish. "I'll pass."

"When should I tell Misato to expect you back?"

"Dunno," she said, turning away and walking to the door. "You can tell her whenever you feel like telling her."

"Huh?"

Smiling at her own little joke, Asuka shut the door behind her.

* * *

Rei Ayanami stood at a crosswalk. The electronic signpost across the street indicated "Don't Walk". So she didn't.

From here, the apartment Rei shared with her superior officer and her fellow pilots lay to the north. The First Child knew she could arrive there in fifteen minutes. Pilot Ikari, if his behavior was within normal parameters, would be preparing dinner again. He would make two meals – one 'normal' one for himself and the rest of the apartment's occupants, plus a second vegetarian meal for Rei. He would do so without compliant, expecting no reward. Until recently Rei hadn't known a reward would be the socially expected response on her part. She didn't see the point. She had thanked him once, the first time. Anything more seemed wasteful. Rei, however, knew that others felt differently.

The crosswalk light changed.

Rei Ayanami walked eastwards.

* * *

Tokyo-3 was, in Asuka's opinion, a supremely dull city.

Walking through its streets to the tune of English-language pop music, Asuka was struck once again by the sameness of everything and everyone around her. Every adult she passed on the street seemed to be dressed either in business attire or a beige NERV uniform. There were almost no children she could see. All the teenagers she passed wore their school uniforms. Every. Single. One.

There weren't even homeless people! Not that Asuka minded. She had no patience for lazy bums or the mentally ill panhandlers who would otherwise accost her on the street. It was still weird, though. Along with everything else it made Tokyo-3 seem… _fake_. Berlin, Hamburg, even that one weekend vacation in Paris last year… there had been real people on their streets: elderly people, young people, college students backpacking across Europe, protesters picketing Whatever because they were pissed about Something, clueless tourists who stuck out with their odd clothes, and, yes, hobos on street corners.

Tokyo-3 was like Disneyland, just with the occasional giant monster instead of pedophiles in mascot costumes.

Ethnically, Tokyo-3 was painfully Japanese. Not that that surprised Asuka. This _was_ Japan. Still, she hadn't expected to find herself feeling so disoriented. She liked feeling special. She _was_ special, after all. But walking down the streets of Tokyo-3 made her feel a tad self-conscious about her bright red hair. Thinking back on her short time in Japan, Asuka realized that she hadn't seen anyone else with red hair. Or, aside from Dr. Akagi's bottle job, any blondes.

The city's architectural style was equally uniform and soulless. Tokyo-3 was a city of metal and (safety) glass. The fact that the downtown skyscrapers could retract into the ground _was_ pretty kickass but that didn't make up for the lack of history in the city. There was no brick, no historical landmarks, no tall trees, no buildings older than 2004. Hell, _she_ was older than most of the city. She was probably older than the city cemetery's oldest grave!

It was enough to make a girl homesick.

Humming along to a love song, Asuka kept walking.

Some time later the Second Child found herself stumbling upon the unlocked gates of her soon-to-be school. The courtyard beyond was empty.

"Well," she said to no one in particular, "why not?"

* * *

The old apartment block was as Rei remembered: noisy, dirty, and devoid of human inhabitation. Her senses could detect no discernible change in the area since she had last left it the morning of Unit-00's disastrous Activation Experiment.

The day the Commander had changed.

The walk up the staircase to the fourth floor was as Rei remembered it. Oddly, the girl found her eyes drawn to the smooth grooves warn in the stairs. She had never noticed them before. Had she _made_ those? Worn them into this familiar place over the years of trudging up and down these steps?

A strange question occurred to Rei, the kind the Commander asked of her to imagine – was this place familiar, in part, because of the grooves? Or was it familiar simply because she had spent a degree of her life here? _No_, she decided with a frown, _not 'familiar'. That is not an accurate word. But… what word would be appropriate?_

Rei didn't know.

A more experienced human being would have recognized the sentiment as nostalgia – literally, a pain for returning home. But the First Child was not experienced, nor was she entirely human.

On the fourth floor, Rei's feet followed the groove in the floor to its origin. The trail ended in a mess of junk mail. Rei looked up at the sign held in place next to doorframe by rusty screws:

**402**

The door was already open.

* * *

The hallways Asuka wandered down were devoid of students or faculty. Only a few janitors milled about; none of them paid any attention to her. That was fine by Asuka. It let her soak in the ambiance.

_It smells like sweat,_ she decided, wrinkling her nose.

Having had her fill of ambiance, the German girl wandered out to the area behind the school building. There, nestled between the plain white concrete of the school and the verdant greenery of the trees on the opposing hillside, was a mix of sports fields and other PE crap. There were two tennis courts with Astroturf, a running track, a general-use grassy field, and a basketball court. Her nose picked up the scent of chlorinated water but Asuka couldn't spot the pool anywhere on ground level. She decided to g—

_CLANG!_

"Shit!"

Asuka frowned. "_Was zum Teufel?"_

The noise and the explicative came from the far end of the back lot, by the basketball courts. After advancing closer she spotted the lone player on the court. He was just a teenager, one dressed in a dark track suit, but he was tall for a boy his age and definitely fit. Not really Asuka's thing, she had Kaji, but still…

_Nice butt_.

Then the boy, who had spotted Asuka during her brief reverie, opened his mouth and ruined the moment. "S'up?"

* * *

Rei walked into the apartment. It was not as she remembered it.

Her meager possessions were gone. The Section-2 agents that had collected her goods for transfer to Captain Katsuragi's apartment hadn't been tidy in their efforts. Her dresser had been tossed. The drawers lay strewn out on the main living area's floor, the clothing ransacked in a hit and run pick-up. The dressers unfinished wood skeleton was visible through the slots the drawers were supposed to go. There was broken glass on the floor, likely from a medicine beaker knocked aside during Section-2's operation. Old and rotting trash was scattered everywhere. No one had been around to tend to the place following her hospitalization. No one had cared to.

Her bed, stripped of sheets, lay in the far left corner. It had been pulled away from the wall at an angle.

Rei sat down on it.

She looked around.

Had her apartment always been this dirty? Excusing what Section-2 had done?

Had they not bothered making sure the door was closed properly upon leaving?

After a good half minute Rei Ayanami realized that that last thought made her…

…angry.

* * *

"Touji Suzahara," he said, making a half-hearted bow. His eyes never left her body.

For once, she appreciated the foreignness of Japanese customs; anything not to have to shake hands with this boy. "Asuka. Asuka Langley Soryu." She looked at the orange ball tucked between his hands. "I heard you cursing. Not having a good night?"

"Nah. It's not that." He thumbed over his shoulder at the basketball hoop. "I'm just practicing. Gotta bone a few of them once in a while, right? "

_I know what you'd like to bone_, she thought grimly, already imagining what pitiful pick-up lines and moves he'd make on her. "I'm the new Eva pilot."

FUCK! Why did she have to say it like _that_?! It made her sound needy. _Asuka Langley Soryu is NOT needy!_

"Oh? Huh." He dribbled the basketball. "Cool, I guess."

"You _guess_?"

The venom in the redhead's tone focused Touji's mind onto the singular purpose of clarifying his previous statement. Somehow he suspected that this _gaijin_ would have his balls if he didn't. "Well, piloting a giant robot seems pretty fuckin' cool, don't get me wrong, but the pilots seem like freaks. Ayanami is weird and that Ikari kid is so quiet Aida and I are running on pool on when he'll try to murder us all." He looked at Asuka with an appraising eye. "You're not a freak, are you?"

Though he didn't realize it, Touji's horribly worded answer was more than acceptable to Asuka. His balls, wiser than their owner, rejoiced at his accidental brilliance. "Hell no," she replied. "I'm the sane one."

"You're accent's funny. What's it?"

"I'm from Germany," she said with pride.

"Huh." He spun the basketball on one finger, trying very hard to be too cool for school for the pretty redhead. Asuka rolled her eyes. "Wanna watch me practice?"

An idea occurred to the Second Child. "How 'bout I kick your ass at it?"

"W-what?" he sputtered, not used to a girl talking to him like that. "_Really_?"

"We Germans _do_ have this game you Earthlings call 'basketball'." She gestured with a slim finger for him to pass the ball. "Bring it on, bitch."

Touji passed the ball.

* * *

Draped across the old, stained mattress, the girl slept.

_Rrrrring!_

Rei Ayanami's eyes snapped open.

_Rrrr_—

"Pilot Ayanami reporting," she said into her cell, having fished it out of her uniform pinafore's pocket in a snap.

"Where the HELL are you?!" asked Captain Katsuragi.

"Home," instantly replied the First Child, not even giving the answer thought.

"What? No, you're not!"

The girl blinked, then considered her surroundings. "I… yes. I am sorry. I was on an errand of a personal nature and lost track of time."

"It's 3 AM!"

Rei checked the chronometer on her cell phone. It was indeed 3 AM. "I apologize."

Captain Katsuragi was not mollified. "Where are you? I'm coming to pick you up."

Rei gave the address.

"Your old apartment?"

"Correct."

_"You broke into your old apartment?"_

"No," said Rei. "The door was open."

"…"

"…"

"…you know what? Never mind. Just stay where you are. I'll be there in ten minutes."

_click_

* * *

_Rrrrring!_

_Rrrrring!_

_Rrrrring!_

_Rrrrring!_

_Rrrrring!_

_Rrrrring!_

_click_ "Hey there, ladies and germs, you've reached the Suzahara Residence. We can't come to the phone right now but leave your name and number at the tone and we'll get back to you as soon as we are humanly able." **BEEEEP!**

"Hey, Dumbass! It's me! Pick up the p—"

_click _"Wait! Wait!" screamed Touji. "I'm here!"

"Duh," said Asuka, leaning back in her bedroom's desk chair. "It's alright. I know you probably had a lot on your hands; though in your case I doubt it'd qualify as 'a lot'."

"Yeah, well, these sausages aren't going to stuff themselves."

"…_what did you say?_"

"My sausages," explained Touji. "I've been working on it all afternoon. I fuckin' hate it when it's my turn to make dinner."

Asuka, unsure at first if the jock had thrown her innuendo back at her or not, decided he probably didn't have the capacity to pull a joke like that off without giggling at his own 'brilliance'. _Boys! _she thought with disgust."Whatever. Do you know a girl named Hikari Horaki?"

_"Hikari?"_ repeated Touji. "Yeah. Aida and me have been in class with her since we came to Tokyo-3."

"Well," said Asuka, propping her bare feet up on her desk and leaning back precariously in her chair, "I had a run in with her right after I schooled your ass again in our rematch. She told me all about you and your nerdy pal."

"Really?" asked Touji carefully.

"She warned me that you two would be selling photos of me to all those perverted boys once I started tomorrow. I imagine a few girls too."

"Uh… no… we, uh, don't—"

"I want in."

Asuka could hear the jock's double-take over the phone. "What?"

"I want in," she repeated. "Fifty-fifty split. You two get half the profits and I get the other half. And I want that taken from _gross_, not _net_. It's only fair considering it's my body of work that'll make this venture possible. In fact, I was originally going to take seventy percent of the profits but I figure another ten percent between the two of you should buy your silence on my involvement in this little business venture."

"_What?_" said Touji, still not quite catching on.

The Second Child laid it out for him. "Me Asuka. You snappy photos. Together, we make money to trade for shiny, shiny beads."

"…"

"Well?"

"You want us to sell photos of you?"

Asuka rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, Suzahara! You and your pal are going to do it anyways! Market niches are made to be filled and if you don't do it someone else will. At least this way I get a cut of the profits and creative control over the project."

"You want _us_ to sell _photos_ of _you_?"

"Yes! Mein Gott, were you dropped on your head as a child?"

"Well, actu—"

"Don't answer that." With her free hand, Asuka fiddled absentmindedly with the SDAT player on her desk, wheeling the plastic rectangle around and around again and again. "Look, do we have a deal?"

"…um, sure?"

"Great! Tell Aida to bring his gear to school. We can start tomorrow at lunch."

* * *

Standing next to her perfect calligraphy, she declared, "I'm Asuka! Asuka Langley Soryu!"

The classroom buzzed with excitement. Asuka knew at once that everyone was looking at _her_, talking about _her_. She bet a few girls already wanted to_ be her_. It was almost too easy. Aside from Rei's freaky blue hair, everyone else either had brown or black hair. Her sparkling cerulean eyes only served to seal the deal. The A-10 clips she wore in her hair were almost too much. Almost.

Then a certain pig-tailed girl killed the room's excitement as quickly as a sharp tack can murder a funny animal balloon. "Quiet!" Hikari Horaki ordered.

And, as Asuka watched, it was so. _Not the mousey girl I thought she was._

The Horaki girl looked over at Asuka and her resolve seemingly weakened at the sight of the approval on Asuka's face. _Defintely someone to know._

Asuka walked to the back of the classroom, never looking back to check if people were taking a look as she passed them. She didn't have to.

* * *

After she and Shinji had finished their assigned chores they joined Class Representative Horaki on the walk back to their respective places of residence. The walk home was pleasant, though Rei found that the Class Rep was looking to her to make idle small talk with the Third Child's dark mood sealing his lips.

_Perhaps I can use this occasion to test the quality of my upcoming question for the Commander._

"Miss Horaki," asked Rei, "what is it like to leave one's home?"

"What do you mean, Ayanami?"

"Your family moved to Tokyo-3 in 2008, correct?"

The pig-tailed girl was shocked. "How on Earth did you know that?"

"It was in your father's NERV employee file."

"What?"

"It was in your fa-"

"I know _that! _What I'm asking is how you were able to read it! It's classified!"

_Ah. She is of higher mental acuity than I had estimated. Not surprising considering the demands of her position in the classroom. _"I, like Shinji, have security clearance at NERV."

"Oh," the other girl said, accepting the explanation.

The First Child waited.

"Yes," she said, referring to the initial biography of her family that Rei had given. "Before that my family lived in New Kyoto."

Rei, recalling the advice in the books the Commander had given her on socialization, matched her eyes to Horaki's. "What did you experience emotionally after moving to this city?"

The other girl seemed hesitant to answer. After a moment, however, she drew herself together. The process was fascinating for Rei to watch. The First Child didn't _quite_ grasp what all the twinges and ticks on the girl's face meant. Rei, lacking the experience of a social upbringing, had to translate the foreign tongue of body language every time she dealt intimately with others. It was both exhausting and frustrating – human beings did so much with their faces so quickly, with one expression melting into another before one could even appreciate them. Rei wondered if humans were just better at reading such signals or if they just threw expressions out willy nilly without regard for narrative cohesion. It made her long for the days before the Commander had ordered her to deal more socially and proactively with others.

"Well, I… I was lonely at first. I found ways to keep busy. We moved between school terms so there wasn't any good chance to meet other kids. But then school started and I made friends."

"I see," she lied. _Lying is easy_, she mused._ I can see why they do it so often._

Hikari looked at her with an expression Rei found difficult to categorize. _Concern? Curiosity? Both? Or not? _"Did that answer your question?"

"No." Rei turned her eyes away from Hikari's face. She was starting to feel nauseous from trying to keep up with the pig-tailed girl's ever-changing facial expression and emotional state. "My question was in error. F-forgive me."

"Are you alright, Ayanami?"

_Don't look at her. Don't look at her. _"I am well," replied Rei, fixing her eyes on the barren sidewalk rolling out in front of them.

Nothing more was said by anyone on the rest of the walk home.

* * *

_Stupid Hikari,_ cursed the redhead, stomping out of her bedroom. _Now I'll have to play another game of basketball with Touji at lunch tomorrow and miss another meal just so Aida can take those action shots of me. If only NERV actually paid me real money._

"We're home," called Shinji as he and the First Child walked inside.

Asuka fixed herself a lemonade from the fridge. When she walked into the TV room the Third Child gave her a strange look. "We're home," he repeated.

"Huzzah."

"Um…"

"What?"

"You're supposed to say 'welcome home' when someone you live with comes in and says they're home."

"Why would I do that?" asked Asuka. "I don't even like you."

Shinji suddenly found his shoes interesting. "…it's tradition."

"Screw tradition," said Asuka, sipping her drink. "Besides, this isn't my home. It isn't yours either." She looked past Shinji to the pale girl standing behind him. "Or yours, First Child. We all just live here because it's our job."

"Do… do you really believe that?" asked Shinji, his voice hesitant.

"It's not about belief. It's fact." She sipped her drink again, then regarded the sweaty glass for a moment. She titled the lemonade towards Shinji. "You made this?"

"Um, yeah."

"It's pretty good, Third Child. Nice work." Asuka turned away from the pair and hopped onto the nearest couch. "I called dibs on the TV. I wanna chill before our synch tests tonight."

Several minutes passes as the Second Child flipped through the premium cable package that Misato had bought for herself. Asuka noted with irritation that her lush of a guardian had blocked all the best channels behind parental lock. Asuka tried several passwords, then found the correct one in 'Yebisu'. The redhead made a mental note of it for future reference. Eventually Asuka settled on a rather tame Japanese teen soap opera. Soon she figured out that plot was something along the lines of a girl being torn between her passion for karaoke and the demands of her upcoming school exams.

"IT'S NOT EVEN REAL SINGING!" she screamed at the screen.

…and then the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

Asuka, sprawled across the whole couch, pulled herself up and looked over the backing to find Rei Ayanami, schoolbag still draped over her shoulder, watching her. "Have you been standing there the whole time?" _Freak._

"May I join you?"

Asuka stared at the pale girl for several seconds, trying and failing to read her impassive expression, then turned her attention back to the soap. "Whatever."

Rei sat in the matching chair next to the couch. They watched the antics of bubblehead, big-breasted (for the Japanese) teenage girls, their boyfriends, and their mutual appreciation for karaoke for the next hour.

"I do not understand," said Rei, after the program had finished, "why Aki did not simply express her desire to Junpei."

"It's 'cuz she's a dumb bitch," explained Asuka, flipping the channel.

"She appeared to be fairly intelligent, at least according to the results of her exams that were posted at the episode's conclusion."

The redhead glanced at her pale roommate, then back at the TV. "You're a real space cadet sometimes."

"'Space cadet'?"

"A girl can't just tell a guy she likes him!" exclaimed Asuka. "God, come on! Do I have to explain _every_ detail of normal human interaction to you?"

"No," said Rei softly, "not all of them."

Asuka sighed. "Look, boy and girls… men and women too… have rituals."

"Rituals?"

"It's stupid crap girls gotta do if they wanna get their mack on with the dude they want to bone – like cooking them lunch first or being all fake demure – because if they don't do it then everyone else thinks she's a slut."

"Ah," said Rei. "So your behavior towards Mister Kaji is explained by your desire to 'bone' him but to not appear promiscuous for wanting to do so."

"…"

"Am I… in error?"

* * *

On the car ride back from the synchronization tests Rei shared the backseat with Shinji. Asuka, who had the top score that night, insisted she deserved to ride shotgun. Neither of the other two pilots cared to argue the point.

While the redhead sparred with their guardian over the merits of a salary increase for the pilots, Rei quietly studied the Third Child. He leaned with one elbow against the car's window and propped up his chin in a cupped hand. He said nothing. He didn't pay attention to anyone. He just watched the urban landscape pass by.

Rei stared at Shinji Ikari until at last the face of the Commander appeared in his son's cheekbones, in his son's nose, but mostly especially in his son's eyes. The vividness of this unreal image enthralled the typically unimaginative First Child.

Mostly, though, her attention creeped out the Third Child when he caught her burning a hole in his head with her crimson eyes. "_What?_" he demanded.

Rei Ayanami felt her cheeks grow hot. "I… I was merely remarking on your resemblance to your father."

Shinji glared at her. The First Child distantly realized that the Second and the Captain had ceased their repartee. "I am _not_ my father," he told her. "I am _nothing_ like my father."

"Your resemblance is genetic, not in char—"

"Shut up," he told her, his left hand clenching and unclenching into a fist. "I don't want to hear it. Not from _you_. I already know how you feel about my father. I don't need to hear you defending that _b-bastard_ again."

"I was merely—"

"Just stop talking," said Shinji, turning back to face out the window. "You're not very good at it."

"…"

Rei kept her eyes focused on her own lap for the rest of the car ride.

* * *

Asuka patted the nice wad of yen fattening her wallet. "Nice doing business with you two fellahs, though I hope those new glamour shots will bring in more dough. MiniPlayers don't buy themselves."

Kensuke Aida pushed his glasses back up nose. "So we'll see you at my—"

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't get your hopes up about doing a private photo shoot or anything perverted like that." She turned to Touji, who was counting his own take. "And don't _you_ get any ideas about putting those cameras in the locker room."

"It was only a suggestion!"

"Yeah, yeah."

"You know," said Aida slyly, "we make quite a team together. Maybe we can try a few other business ventures after this photo thing peters out."

"HAH!"

"You know you want to, Soryu," said Touji, stuffing his cash into his jacket pocket. "What d'ya goin' to do? Kick Ikari and Ayanami's asses in b-ball to pass the time?"

"Yeah," snarked Asuka, glancing at the clock. There was still time left for eating lunch at a decent clip. "I'll do that and then we three stooges can go yuck it up at the whipped cream pie factory." She waved at them. "Laters."

Back in the classroom, Asuka Langley Soryu searched for a place to eat her lunch in peace. In that search she spotted a certain pig-tailed girl standing at the row of windows, seemingly staring up and out at the sky.

Asuka walked up next to her. When Hikari, whose expression was painfully lovesick, didn't acknowledge her the Second Child commented, "Christ, you look like someone just killed your dog. What's up?"

* * *

Rei found him alone on the school's rooftop, leaning against the chain-link fence, staring down on the courtyard below. He did not acknowledge her approach. She walked up behind him.

"Pilot Ikari?"

He shivered. "What?" he asked, still not looking at her.

"I wish to ask you a question."

"…"

"Why do you hate me?"

He shook his head. "I don't hate you, Rei."

"Do you hate me because your father loves me?"

"I don't hate you, Rei."

"Do you hate yourself for coming back?"

Shinji exhaled sharply. He turned on her. "Why are you trying to pick a fight?!"

She shook her head in the negative. "I am not trying to do so. I am trying to understand you."

"Why?"

"I do not know."

"God," snorted Shinji, "don't tell me you're in love with me or something."

"No."

"Then why are you trying to pick a fight?"

"I—"

Shinji flex his right hand. "Well, let me lay it out for you. It's because you're looking for my father." He looked her square in the eyes. "You won't find him here."

"You are jealous."

Shinji laughed. It was sad. It made her feel sad. "No. Not at all. Not of you. Never."

"You believe he loves me more than you," she pressed the point, unsure why she was doing so. Maybe it was that _something_ that was itching under her skin. The _something_ new and odd. The _something_ that had started after their conversation in the car and had kept her up half the night.

"Does he?"

"I do not know. I am not him."

"Liar!" snapped Shinji, his anger flaring. "You're more his child than I am, and **I'M** his flesh and blood!"

"Please do not yell at me." The itching grew stronger. "I have done nothing wrong."

"Except come up here to bother me."

Rei flexed her right hand. "I… I wanted to know why—"

"Why what?" he demanded.

"—why you…why…"

_"Well?"_

"I do not know," she admitted, her shoulders slumping slightly. "I am not proficient at expressing myself."

"Dolls never are."

**SLAP!!**

Shinji, the handprint on his face turning a dull red, stared in shock at the pale girl. The First Child, for her part, found herself roiling on the inside as her heart pounded in her ears.

"R-Rei," he mumbled, rubbing his cheek, "you have no idea. No idea what he will do to get what he w—"

The First Child stared at her hand. The skin on her palm sang with a light pain, yet it was a pain that paled to that expressed on Ikari's face. Stranger still, Rei found that pain on Ikari's face… pleasing? Was that why the itching was gone? _What had the Commander said about 'living life'? An odd phrase. Yet the sensation of this unknown feeling is so interesting. If only I could experience more such moments as this one it would allow me to understand. _

Rei looked up at Shinji.

_Maybe I can._

"—t kind of man my father is," the boy said. "He's just using u—"

**SLAP!!**

Shinji stood there, his head whipped to the side, frozen in place. His cheek was bright red now._ A bruise? _Rei sighed in dissatisfaction. The pleasure in her heart hadn't been renewed with the fresh strike on the boy's face. Worse, her palm ached. _Perhaps my pleasure was in the spontaneity of the original attack. Or perhaps in the emotion of the moment? Hmmm._

Rei withdrew her striking hand to her side. "You do not understand me or your father," she told him. "Thus, you are not capable of passing judgment on us or our relationship. Your life experience is not a universal constant."

Shinji slooooowly turned his face back towards hers. His expression was flat and dull. He stared at her with those strange yet familiar eyes of his.

Rei knew the tremble in her knees escaped his notice. She was thankful.

"I saw you," he said quietly. "I know I saw you."

Rei stared back at him.

He turned and left, leaving her alone on the roof.

The sky overhead was blue and cloudless. It seemed infinite. Rei knew it wasn't.

* * *

Kensuke whipped open his bedroom door for her and Suzahara. "Awesome, huh?"

"Yeah," Asuka lied. "_Super_ awesome."

Actually, Kensuke Aida's room screamed "I AM AND WILL DIE A VIRGIN" but telling the little nerd (_otaku_, she corrected herself) that wouldn't grease any wheels. NERV wouldn't release any footage of the 4th Angel battle to her for "security reasons", whatever that meant, so this Aida kid was her only shot at the goods.

"It's on my other OTHER computer over there." He blushed and cleared his throat. "Um, sorry about the mess."

Asuka pointedly ignored the posters of bikini babes and ludicrously endowed anime women on the walls of Aida's bedroom as she navigated the laundry and miscellaneous crap that was scattered on the floor. _The little freak probably jerks off to those cartoons too. _

"Why the hell do you have three desktops?" asked the redhead.

"Security," replied Aida.

Touji Suzahara explained. "Mister Paranoid here keeps all his Eva crap on a stand-alone computer. Says that way NERV and the MAGI can't break into it and erase it."

"Not a bad idea." Asuka briefly considered the idea of buying her own laptop, one not given to her by NERV, but then realized 1) she didn't have much to hide from them, 2) they'd just sneak a wi-fi chip or something into it when she wasn't looking for 'security purposes'. "NERV's pretty damn thorough, though. I'd keep offsite backups."

Aida smiled smugly. "Who says I don't?"

"Look," said Asuka, "I gotta be at Headquarters in less than an hour so can we hurry this up?"

"Sure." Aida turned on the computer. Asuka guessed he kept it off for security reasons. _This kid could be useful_. She glanced aside at a poster of a big-titted blonde woman with eyes the size of watermelons. _This kid could be useful and I should use a ten-foot pole with a glove at the end if he ever asks to shake my hand._

The screen flashed to life. Dozens and dozens of tiny file icons filled the screen. "Christ," swore Asuka, "how much crap do you have?"

"Not a lot, truth be told," replied Kensuke. "Lots of photos of the Geo-Front, even a couple from the surface level. Diagrams of the city and backward engineered schematics of the defense systems. A few Eva pics from when Ikari and Ayanami trashed that diamond Angel. Really, though, it's not much more than what the average enthusiast could dig up on the right message board with a credit card handy."

Suzahara commented, "The dude talks a big game."

"Then _why_ am I wasting my time here?" asked Asuka, her nostrils flaring. "Assholes! The both of you!"

"I don't have a lot," repeated Aida, "except for _this_." He double-clicked on a random icon. A video window popped up.

Asuka watched for a few moments, then shook her head in dismay. "You left the shelter, didn't you?"

"Yeah!"

"Dumbass. You're lucky you didn't get yourself killed. Or worse."

Touji frowned. "There're worse things than death? Since when?"

"Trust me," said Asuka. "There are."

(_"AIDA!!" _snapped a familiar voice.)

(The camera view tumbled around as Kensuke's attention shifted. Eventually it settled on an upside down view of a shrubbery._ "C-Class Rep! Ow ow ow ow!"_)

(Hikari Horaki declared in that dominating tone of hers,_ "We're going back inside!"_)

(_"Bu- bu- but-"_)

(_"Class Rep," _said Suzahara off-screen. "_Look!_")

The scene shifted, settling back on the cityscape of Toyko-3. Asuka recognized Eva Unit-01. She guessed correctly that the unfamiliar pink and purple monstrosity in the scene was the 4th Angel. _Man_, Asuka thought, _it looks like a penis._

(_"Man,"_ commented Touji, _"that looks like a HUGE dic-"_)

(_"SUZAHARA!"_)

Asuka leveled an appraising eye at the tall jock. "What?" he said defensively. "You know it _totally_ looked like a pen—"

There was an explosion on-screen. Asuka noted with disdain that Unit-01 was having its ass handed to it. Soon the purple giant was beating a hasty retreat.

("How can a robot bleed?" asked Suzahara.)

("It's probably just hydraulic fluid," Aida breezed, acting as if he was an authority on the subject. "Or coolant.")

("No," Hikari said in a whisper, "that's blood." A long pause. "Oh my God. That happened to him too. He can feel it. _He can feel it._")

Asuka smirked. '_She SO wants to bone him_.'

The final part of the video rolled. Though the distance made the image somewhat fuzzy, Asuka could still see Unit-01 arm itself with the positron rifle, draw a bead on the approaching Angel, and then, in a violent flare of white light that blinded the camera for several seconds, annihilate the enemy.

("We're going back inside," ordered Hikari. "RIGHT! NOW!)

The video ended.

"Wasn't that _awesome_?" asked Kensuke.

"That was weird," said Asuka.

The jock frowned. "Huh? Why d'ya say that?"

All she said was "Play it again."

Kensuke stared back at her. "But—"

"Play it again."

The bespectacled otaku complied. When it was finished Asuka said, "That's so _weird_."

"What is?" asked Kensuke.

"Restart it from the point where he turns tail and runs."

The bespectacled boy frowned at her demand. "Look, if you're not going to tell me, why don't you just sit down and fiddle around with the video player?"

"Because the keyboard will probably be _sticky_."

Touji added, "She's got you there."

"NO!" shouted Kensuke. "I'll have you know I _always _use—"

"Stop. Talking," ordered Asuka, her mind turning over what she'd just seen.

_He never stepped foot in an Eva until three days before the 3rd Angel showed up. He gets his ass handed to him – rightly so – then wins because of _luck. _And then Misato said they trained him as a sniper because the Commander ordered it. But anyone can see that'd be Ayanami's job. Her synch's always sucked for melee. Three weeks later when the 4th Angel shows up and they need to snipe it... and look who's an expert now. And then the 5th comes along and looks who's perfectly suited to take it down…._

"No," said Asuka, "that's stupid."

"What?" asked Touji. "What's stupid?"

"Nothing. Never mind." She glanced at the tiny face of her wristwatch, then made for the door. "I gotta run. I'm gonna be late as it is."

* * *

Rei Ayanami walked into the Dummy Plug Production Plant to find the Kozo Fuyutsuki waiting for her.

"Vice-Commander." She looked around the chamber. "Where is Doctor Akagi?"

The elderly man grimaced. "Dr. Akagi is dealing with a… another E-Project program. A new one. We'll be holding off on your upload until tomorrow night."

Rei nodded. "If I may inquire, what is this other project of Doctor Akagi's? I am unaware of any additions to E-Project."

Fuyutsuki didn't look her in the eye. Then again, he never did. Rei wasn't bothered by it. She was actually somewhat thankful. At least this way she wouldn't tire herself with deciphering the ticks, wiggles, tremors, and twitches of the meat and skin that made up his face.

"It is," he began, gesturing to the darkened LCL tank that made up the chamber's far wall, "a new addition to _this_ project..."

* * *

"Why am I naked?"

Doctor Akagi didn't look up from her laptop. "It's necessary for a clean recording," she said, her fingers dancing frantically over the keyboard.

"Right," she said, not entirely understanding but not wanting to drag the inevitable technobabble out of the blonde scientist. "And what's this thing called again? Misato never told me."

"It's an autopilot system for the Evangelions. We call it the Dummy Plug." Ritsuko adjusted her glasses. "You'll be providing the template for the Mark Two."

Asuka frowned, but she caught herself before she communicated her opinion of the autopilot system's name. The Second Child couldn't, however, keep the vitriol out of her next question, "So you want to replace me?"

"No," replied Dr. Akagi. _Not unless it's necessary_. "With the refinement of Evangelion manufacturing methods the timescale for creating new Units has been reduced from years to mere months. NERV is planning to begin the mass production of Evangelions soon. However, we still lack the pilots required for additional Eva Units. The Dummy Plug is designed to fill the void."

"The Dummy Plug can't generate an AT-Field," offered Lt. Ibuki. "As such, DP-equipped Evas must work in conjunction with human-manned Evas."

"It also can't replicate the human heart and soul." Dr. Akagi glanced at the darkened walls of the Secondary Dummy Plug Production Plant, searching for any sign of movement from the soulless bodies lurking in the LCL behind the glass. She knew she needn't bother. The security screen installed would keep the Second Child from ever knowing what lay behind within the tank. "A human pilot possesses ingenuity, imagination, and adaptability. A Dummy Plug can only process the orders given to it in a basic manner. In the final analysis it's just a machine."

Asuka relaxed. "So they're support units."

Dr. Akagi nodded. "Correct. And your brainwaves and piloting skills will provide the template for this Dummy Plug."

"You called it the Mark Two. What about the Mark One?" The Uploading Tube snapped open on the central alcove. Asuka slipped off her robe and tossed it aside. Maya blushed. Dr. Akagi raised a carefully plucked eyebrow as the Second Child's grooming preferences.

"Rei provides the template for the Mark One."

"Ayanami?" Asuka snorted. "Good luck getting anything useful out of her."

Though she would never know it, at that moment Ritsuko Akagi was of the same opinion of the Second Child – though for different motives. "Yes, well, Rei's Dummy Plug was the Prototype. Yours is a refinement of the technology."

"Awesome." She stepped into the tube. As it slid closed she called out, "How long am I going to have to stand here?"

"Three hours."

The sealed tube muffled Asuka's response. The clear acrylic glass, however, allowed the Second Child to communicate her feelings in a universally recognized hand gesture.

LCL filled the tube.

"Just relax," ordered Dr. Akagi into the comm unit sitting next to her laptop. "We'll start with the baseline readings tonight." After taking a moment to realize her new subject was not one to blindly obey orders, she added, "And no talking. In fact, try to think of nothing at all. Thought noise will just corrupt the data and force us to restart the upload from scratch."

"Whatever," said Asuka, already closing her eyes. Calling on her years of combat training she slowed her breathing and slipped into a meditative state. _And Kaji thought I took all that yoga crap just to be flexible. Heh. Heh._

"Stop daydreaming!" ordered the blonde doctor. "Maya and I are willing to stay here all night until we get a full upload! And," she added, "that tube can only be opened from the outside. Hint. Hint."

"Yeah, sorry." _Bitch._

Behind her, lurking in the darkness, the smiling white skinned, grey-haired clones of Asuka Langley Soryu opened their empty minds to the Second Child, drinking in all the details of their genetic mother's life and soul. Slowly, unused to the precision required, the dummies began to silently mouth a single word:

'Mama.'

* * *

"Christ on a crutch, Rei," said Asuka, pressing the crosswalk button, "I can't believe you do that twice a week. My back's killing me after last night's session."

The three pilots stood at an intersection, waiting for the light to change. It was a brilliant morning, one that they were doomed to spend in school listening to propaganda about the Second Impact. While the girls chatted, Shinji listened to music on his SDAT player.

"You will… you will adjust," replied Rei, experiencing discomfort at subject matter.

"God, I hope so." Asuka twisted around. Her spine popped audibly. "Oof!" The light changed. The trio started walking again. "How long did it take you?"

"I do not recall."

"How can you not remember?!"

"I have been participating in this project for several years," explained Rei. "My memories of those early days are the indistinct ones of a child."_ A necessary lie_, Rei told herself. _Though I suspect she would not believe me if I said that I had been uploading _all _my life. All _nine_ years of my life._

Soon the trio arrived at their school to find a surprise – their Class Representative was waiting for them at the front door.

"Good morning!" she greeted the boy walking in front of Rei and Asuka, excited and nervous.

"H-Hikari," sputtered Shinji, headphones from his SDAT player fixed firmly in his ears.

The Second Child watched as several silent, awkward seconds passed. At last she prodded her fellow pilot, "Aren't you supposed to say something, Third Child?"

"Huh?"

_Dumbass._ "Shinji says 'good morning' too," she told Hikari.

"Sorry," said Shinji.

Rei Ayanami studied the whole exchange with uncharacteristic curiosity. She tilted her head to address the girl at her left. "Soryu, is this one of the rituals we discussed?"

"Shhhhh!" shushed Asuka. The gaijin girl grabbed hold of Ayanami's nearest hand and dragged her inside. "God!" she said, pulling Rei upstairs to their classroom, "I can't believe I told you that! A little knowledge really _is_ a dangerous thing, especially in the hands of a space cadet!"

The pair arrived at their classroom. At once Asuka spotted her targets. "You two!" she snapped at Touji and Kensuke, who were hunched over a box of photographs labeled 'A.L.S.', trying to make a quick buck while the teacher and the Class Rep were absent. "Hallway! NOW!"

"Here's the deal," she told them when they (and Ayanami) were alone. "You," she pointed at Aida, "are going to run downstairs and videotape Hikari asking Shinji out. It'll be something to show their kids." _Also, blackmail material. Or a cheap Christmas present for cheap schmaltz._

Aida's eyebrows rose up high, nearly knocking the sun out of the sky. "Hikari and Ikari? What the fuc—"

"You," she pointed at Touji, "are going to be his lookout. Every sniper needs one. NOW GET GOING!!"

The boys scampered down the nearest staircase.

Asuka turned to Rei, who had watched the exchange without comment, and smiled wickedly. "Gotta know how to crack the whip, First, or nothing will get done."

"I see."

The redhead's smile faded into disdain. "How much you wanna bet the chickenshit backs out?"

"'Chicken… shit'?"

"Shinji! Focus, Rei! Like I'd be talking about Hikari Horaki like that. That girl's got balls of steel. Terrible taste in boys, but balls of steel."

Rei turned away.

"What?" asked Asuka. "Am I _upsetting_ you when I talk about Shinji like that?" she whined. "He doesn't even like you!"

"No," replied Rei. "Your face is confusing."

Asuka blinked. "Huh?"

"If… if I try to read someone's face I find I grow disoriented," explained Rei. "I am trying to learn how to read the intentions of others but I have found lately that I cannot stop analyzing them if I do not force myself to turn away."

The redhead stared at the back of Ayanami's head.

The First Child enjoyed the blank wall she was looking at.

"Rei," Asuka said at last in a neutral tone, "you really _are_ kind of a freak, aren't you? I mean, a real one, not like Aida and his tit posters."

The pale girl frowned. "Tit posters?"

Their cell phones rang.

"Angel attack," said Asuka, reading off the text message. "Awesome!"

"We must report to headquarters," said Rei.

Outside school, just around the corner, a black bulletproof sedan waited to collect the Children. Shinji was already waiting for the girls when they arrived.

Once they were inside the car, the Second Child asked Shinji, "So did you back out?"

Shinji looked at her like she'd woken up to find him masturbating over her bed. "I… I don't know what you're talking about."

"Chickenshit," sniffed Asuka. She looked to Rei. "See?"

The car drove on.

* * *

# # # To Be Continued

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

Yeah, so this thing was delayed for a while due to writer's block, 4th of July holiday stuff, and a copy of Persona 3. Ah, video games, how I will miss thee come Fall.

I played around a lot with this mini-chapter, trying different combinations of characters, but it seemed like Rei and Asuka worked the best. Part of my writer's block was that I find Asuka a very hard character to write. After Shinji, she's the one I have the most difficulties with. I think it's not so much due to _not_ understanding her character as understanding it _too much_. The same goes for Shinji. Something like 80 percent of Eva fanfic deals with Shinji, Asuka, or ShinjixAsuka. That's ten years worth of a lot of really good writers exploring those characters and their relationship down to every detail. It's hard to find a fresh take on them. Though that's not to say it can't be done ("Orchestrating the Silence" by SerialRavist is a recent kickass example of the two mainstay clichés of NGE fanfic – ShinjixAsuka and post-EoE beach stories – done superbly).

Rei, on the other hand, is a lot easier to write now that I got a bead on how I wanted to do her character. See, most fanfic writes Rei as this girl who's secretly bursting with emotion who wants to make out with Shinji and stab Gendo Ikari in the back. This is quite the opposite in "Taking Sights". I figure that if Rei's as emotionless and unexpressive as we see her in the TV series then she's either 1) humanoid but not human, or 2) the victim of severe emotional abuse over the course of her whole life, like a girl that's been chained in her parent's basement for ten years. The jury's still out on numero uno, but I'm approaching Rei as someone who's been really, _really_ fucking damaged by the people who raised her (i.e. Gendo, Kozo, and Ritsuko). That sort of thing won't be cured by some hurt/comfort (sorry shippers!).

So the Mk. II Dummy Plug I've been referencing at for the last several chapters is, in fact, based on Asuka's DNA. There's actually a big hint in the chapter "Asuka and the Ikaris". In the scene where Ritsuko discusses the Mk. II she talks about how she needs only "an additional component" to begin the processing of the Cores (the clones) – she was talking about Asuka, who was inbound on the _Over the Rainbow _at the time.

Asuka bemoaning the loss of her prized, top-of-the-line 10 GB MiniPlayer (basically, her world's equivalent of an iPod) is a touch of world-building hidden inside a character/plot element. I'm actually writing a supplemental guide for "Taking Sights" that explains a lot of the background stuff that I occasionally drop in, but the Cliff Notes explanation for why a 10 GB MP3 player being considered a top-line luxury good in 2015 is that the hell of Second Impact (and _three billion people _dying) set back the general pace of technological development (that wasn't NERV-related) by several years. At least that's my fanwank explanation for why, in the high-tech city of Tokyo-3 in the year 2015, Shinji carries a SDAT player and Hikari owns a Sega Dreamcast (**edit**: actually, it's a Sega Saturn).

The upcoming Shinji mini-chapter will be fairly short compared to this one and the Hikari mini-chapter. Then it's onto Gendo in Berlin.

**Next Up: Shinji Ikari**


	15. Threesomes: Gendo Ikari

11d: Gendo Ikari

* * *

The first thing he saw stepping onto the tarmac in Berlin was an attractive blonde woman waiting halfway between his aircraft and the limo waiting for him. She was dressed in tastefully cut black business attire. She couldn't have been more than twenty-one. Gendo, unlike some members of SEELE, wasn't one for party favors but politeness demanded Keel make the gesture anyway.

"Mr. Ikari," greeted the pretty woman, her Japanese flawless, "welcome to Germany. I've been sent by the Chairman to escort you to the conference."

"_Thank goodness_," he replied in perfect German, taking her hand and politely pumping it. As he did so, Gendo noted the mole under the blonde girl's left eye. "_I've never been one for roadmaps. I always end up lost._"

She smiled. Gendo was bemused when he realized it was genuine. "Well, you're in luck, Commander. I can get you where you need to go."

"Perhaps," he said, "but not today." Gendo brushed past her and walked over to the limo. A security escort in a dark suit with matching glasses opened a door for him. The blonde woman shuffled along behind him, her heels clicking on the tarmac. "I've found getting lost to be the most fun one can have with their clothes on."

The ride into the city was uneventful.

* * *

_"SEELE?" He raises a lone eyebrow in mock horror, eliciting a small smile from his girl. "Sounds… _German_."_

_They're sitting in a cozy corner at Nana's, a shitty dive perched over the river. The crowd is a mix of locals and salarymen until dinnertime, after which the manager throws a switch behind the bar and suddenly graduate students are EVERYWHERE. Since it's only six o'clock the raman-starved masses that pack the place haven't had enough time to finish their first rounds yet, leaving the atmosphere relaxed without being boisterous._

_"It's multinational," says Yui Ikari, "but, yes, they're based in Germany. My father is on the board of trustees."_

_Gendo Rokubungi frowns at his girlfriend over a mug of cheap beer. "Your father?"_

_"It's something to do with banking," she explains, tracing a neatly manicured finger around and around the rim of her own beer. "Trading currency and that sort of thing. But the important thing is that they're offering to fund the research."_

_He tries not to grimace but she knows him well enough to read his moods behind the mask. "What?" she asks._

_"You don't exactly talk about your father much—"_

_"Neither do you."_

_"—and when you do it isn't glowing praise."_

_"See previous statement."_

_He sips his beer. "You just never seemed the type to take a handout."_

_Yui bristles and he knows at once that he'll be sleeping on their apartment's couch again. "It's not a handout," she says. "It's an opportunity. I _earned _this."_

_He tries a different tact. "You've never wanted to go corporate before."_

_"I'm a realist," she explains, then pauses to glare at a gang of rowdy undergrad that have mistakenly wandered into the bar. Gendo contributes his own negative vibes to the effort. The veal slinks away. Yui turns back to him. "I'm a realist. It's something I learned from you. Do you want to get some food?"_

_"If we're going to eat, let's eat someplace without rats in the kitchen."_

_Yui, however, is already pouring over their table's menu placemat. It's sticky with spilled beer and other assorted nastiness. "I'm going to get some salted edamame. Want some?"_

_"Sure."_

_Yui flags over a waitress and places the order._

_"I thought I was the realist in this relationship," he says._

_"No, you're the _cynic. _I'm the realist."_

_"Are you sure your big, bad biologist brain isn't confusing that last word for 'idealist'?"_

_She lifts her chin to scratch an itch on her long, slim neck. Gendo knows she's doing it on purpose. It doesn't lessen the affect on him. "You think I'm an idealist because you're a cynic. Actually I'm a realist who just happens to believe in people."_

_"There's your mistake," he says, jabbing a finger at her. "People are bastards."_

_"Oh? Is that so?"_

_"History bares me out."_

_"So am I bastard?"_

_"No," he says, pausing to drain the last of his beer, "you're a bitch."_

_Yui laughs. "Oh ho ho, _really_?"_

_"You're the one making poor, sex-starved Gendo sleep on the couch tonight."_

_"God, I have you whipped, don't I?" She shakes her head. When she next speaks the amusement is lessened in her voice, "It's a lot of money, Gendo."_

_"I know."_

_"It's a LOT of money."_

_"I know."_

_"There will be strings attached. I'm not stupid. Actually, I'm more worried about having to work with my father."_

_"Hmm?"_

_"Because—" Yui smiles at the waitress as she drops off the food. "Thank you._

_"Because family should never go into business together. It's just too hard to keep the personal from interfering with the professional."_

_Gendo understands. "I'll support you."_

_She smiles. "_So_ whipped."_

* * *

The first meetings weren't until the next day but a champagne reception was scheduled for that evening in the Main Hall of the Phoenix Center. The Center was a typical piece of post-Impact style architecture nestled in the heart of Berlin. The cluster of buildings and hotels were all glittering steel and glass. In Berlin the design famously stood out, attracting visitors to the German capital to see this symbol of Europe's post-Impact resurgence. To Gendo it was boring.

It's hard to top a city whose skyscrapers retracted into the ground, forming a parallel city hanging upside down over a Geo-Front.

Ordering his entourage of lackeys and spies (working both for him and on him, often both) to leave him alone, Gendo spent the afternoon alternating between cat napping and nibbling away at one of Yui's old paperbacks, Ryu Murakami's _The Fascism of Love and Fantasy_. Every so often, scribbled in the margins in frantic penciling, were notations by Yui. He forced himself to read the book in a linear fashion and to not page through so her notes would have the proper context.

There were no dreams when he slept.

* * *

The hall was tastefully decorated in white and red pageantry. Overhead, hanging in banners two stories high staggered all along the length of the hall, the NERV half-fig logo alternated with the UN's blue and white crest. Flanking them along the side walls, in smaller size, were the national flags of the 137 surviving UN member nation-states. Every remaining country on Earth was represented, save the Holy See.

All along the hall, dignitaries, VIPs and NERV officials traded polite small talk over hors d'oeuvres. Among this elite trolled the odd spy or undercover reporter, aiming for a scoop on the elusive Commander Gendo Ikari of NERV.

They were sorely disappointed.

Three buildings over and sixty stories above, a clutch of secretive men met in a relatively austere (and secure) setting. It had, for example, only two ice sculptures instead of the Main Hall's nine. German, English, and Japanese could be heard throughout the room, the _lingua franca_ of the new world order.

Gendo surveyed the room, picking out some of the important faces among the upper echelon and reviewed his memories of them.

Chiba Kimio (SEELE-03) was chatting with Baqi Alwi (SEELE-07) at table in the far corner. Chiba disliked Gendo in a personal level, feeling that the latter had stolen Chiba's rightful place as the Commander of NERV in Japan. His influence stemmed mostly from seniority in the organization - he was pushing a hundred. Alwi, young at sixty-four, practically ran most of the Middle East and northern Africa, for whatever that was worth in the post-oil era of nuclear power and the electric car. The Jordanian maintained a close, personal friendship with Keel Lorenz and was the main authority on the Scrolls after Keel and Gendo.

Eli Abrams (SEELE-11) stood by the ice sculpture replica of the _David_ picking the caviar off his hors d'oeuvre. The Scotsman was one of less influential members of the inner circle, though he had practically brokered the Valentine Treaty happen single-handedly. Rumor had it he had had a falling out with Keel in 2010 over the finer policy details surrounding the establishment of NERV. Gendo knew he would be dead within the year of natural causes – old age. Eli Abrams would be the only member of the post-Impact SEELE not to survive to witness Instrumentality in the old timeline. Gendo noted he was already looking pale. His replacement on the committee, Fredrick Moy, wasn't present.

For nearly two decades he had worked with all the men in this room - and they mostly were men. Years of planning and scheming and manipulating the course of events around the world in order to bring about the Second Impact, the consolidation of power in that disaster's aftermath, the development of the Evas under GEHIRN and the production of them under NERV. Every crime, every sacrifice, all lay under the banner of Human Instrumentality. But even then fewer than three dozen of the men in this cozy ballroom knew the full scale of SEELE's master plan. That didn't matter in the big picture, not to Gendo Ikari.

He was going to kill every single one of them anyways.

* * *

The Russian arched an eyebrow at the offering. "What is the occasion, Commander Ikari?"

"Think of it as a small token of my appreciation."

"For what?" asked the other man, lifting the silver pocket watch out by it's delicately weaved chain. He was Mister K. Bugayev, age seventy-one. Outwardly he was an unexceptional though fabulously wealthy businessman with influential ties throughout Eurasia. His corporations had gained phenomenal wealth from exploiting the thawed post-Impact Siberian wilderness. To the rest of the world he was a nobody, just one face of several on the UN's Economic Reconstruction Committee helping to repair a fragile global marketplace. Gendo simply thought of him by his committee designation: SEELE-04.

"Why, for smoothing over that business with the _Caliban_." He smiled. "Unlike the American government, yours has been quite reasonable on the matter."

He opened the watch and studied the inscription. "_Greatness without_," he read, "_lies within_."

"Your father was a wise man."

"Yes, he was." The Russian smiled thinly. "It's perfect, Commander Ikari. Thank you for the reminder. Of my father."

Both men knew the gesture was transparent with no real affection backing it. Gendo had learned everything he need about making the gift a personal one; all the little details - the inscription on the back, the numbering's font, even the type of crystal used in the watch face - were keyed into Bugayev's personal history and tastes. The watch was a reminder: look at how much better I play the game than you.

Gendo returned the tight smile. "Think nothing of it."

"So," he pocketed the watch, "any surprises in store for tomorrow's Quorum?"

"No surprises. Just business."

"Hmm. That'd be good news to hear from any other man."

Gendo raised his glass. "To business."

"To business," replied Bugayev.

Their two glasses clinked together gently.

* * *

_It's raining the first time they fly into Berlin. Yui's father, Mister Yoshiyuki Ikari, flanked by large men in plain black suits and black sunglasses, greets them at the terminal. Gendo watches with approval as Yui keeps the limited conversation cordial. He's not sure what Mister Ikari thinks of him but Gendo knows at once why Yui hates him. The bald man with the skuzzy goatee just watches you and _smirks _knowingly, like you're nothing but a joke to him_.

_There's a wine and cheese reception_ _that night at an old family estate outside the city. The decor is wonderful, as is the food. Gendo is wearing a simple suit despite Yui's protests that he pick up something better. He came in knowing full well that even if blew his modest budget on a new suit the wait staff would still be better dressed than him. He's right. Yui is wearing conservative business casual, all black and charcoal grey. It's something that projects herself as a scientist rather than herself as a woman. They're underdressed together._

_Yui touches his arm. "Holy shit," she says a touch too loudly for the civilized trappings of the function, "that's Shiro Katsuragi!"_

_"Who?"_

_She half-glances at him and he can tell she thinks he's about the stupidest man in the world right then. "_Doctor_ Shiro Katsuragi? The physicist? Hell, he's a Renaissance Man! I can't believe he's _here, _in_ public."

_Gendo spots the man in question at the foot of the ballroom's staircase. His left hand is filled with crackers and other treats with neither plate nor napkin in sight. His right hand gesticulating wildly as he recounts something to a redheaded woman in nightgown. Something about her screams 'egghead' to Gendo. In her hands she's holding two champagne glasses. He suspects she's holding both their drinks while Katsuragi explains some brilliant thought of his. "Reclusive?"_

_Yui nods. She then explains in a quieter, more collected voice, "He's very private. He turned down a Fields Medal back in… '88? 89? He turned it down. Word has it that the only reason he hasn't won a Nobel is that he refuses to let them nominate him."_

_Yui frowns._

_"What?"_

_"Well," she says, "he hasn't published anything in years. He just dropped off the face of the Earth in the early nineties. Yet here he is, sipping champagne in a German hotel suite." _

_"It's not too late to back out."_

_She shakes her head. "It's a lot of money." Yui narrows her eyes a bit as she glances back at Doctor Katsuragi and the woman. "Besides, if I don't take it they'll give it to _her_."_

_The venom in Yui's voice triggers a memory of several rants by her at Nana's. "So," he says, taking a guess, "that's Kyoko Zeppelin."_

_"The bitch," sniffs Yui. "What a crackpot. Let me tell you, there's a reason why she gets her metabiology papers published only in German-language journals." Yui leans in a bit. "And the worst part? She wore that_ exact same dress _at that conference Professor Fuyutsuki and I attended last month in Tokyo!"_

_He sips his drink. "What was it that Henry Kissinger said about politics in academia?"_

_"Gendo?"_

_"Yes, dear?"_

_"Our hotel room may not have a couch but it _does_ have a floor." _

_He smiles at her. "Kissinger was so fucking right."_

* * *

Later, once the backstabbing and mind games had gotten under way for the party in general, Gendo found himself cornered by Edward White, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and all-around gossipy bitch.

"Of course," said White, leaning closer to whisper conspiratorially, "your little gambit with the JA has paid off handsomely. The others will give you grief but you managed to secure a great deal of good will amongst the general public. The competitors to E-Project are being withdrawn from the G9's budgets: the Jet Alone, the Quartermass, the Red Mercury... hell, all of them! Well, except for that toy the JSSDF is developing."

Gendo sipped his champagne politely. "A fortunate development, however the operation's gains were limited to damage control over the short-term. It will likely only have an incidental impact on the Evangelion production budget over the near future." _Which is good because if it did increase the budget I'd have twelve or thirteen Mass Production Evas to deal with come D-Day instead of nine. I'm pushing my luck with Project ARKA as it is._ "Still, the success of the plan belongs to Captain Katsuragi and Doctor Akagi."

"Yes, yes. Of course." He glanced behind the Commander. "Oh dear. Don't look now but Mister Ta-"

"Commander Ikari," warmly said the man approaching Gendo from behind. "It's been too long."

Gendo turned to face his greeter. "Mister Tachiki."

The man staring down Gendo Ikari was able to do so despite being a good head shorter than NERV's Supreme Commander. Once Tachiki had been a fit man, a solider, but now age was taking his muscle and inexorably turning it to fat. Unlucky genetics, Gendo decided. The knots of steeled muscle here and there on his build showed that he wasn't accepting of his inevitable destiny. Not that it mattered. In a few years Tachiki would start waddling around like Captain Katsuragi's pet penguin.

Of course most of the men (and the five women) in this conference room didn't think they'd still have corporal bodies in five years. Gendo didn't think they would either, though for different reasons.

"Commander Ikari," he said, "congratulations on not nuking our Motherland with the Jet Alone."

Gendo tipped his glass towards the shorter man. "Indeed."

The salt and pepper mustache on Tachiki's lip bristled and flared with a life of its own. "Chairman Keel sends his regrets that he could not attend this meeting in person. Someone, however, must man the watchtower during this gathering of equals."

The Commander wasn't sure what hurt Tachiki more: publicly stating that he considered Gendo Ikari his equal or keeping a straight face as he forced himself to spout such a stream of lies._ Keel's not here because his extension cord isn't long enough. _"Yes," said Gendo, "but with you here the Chairman attends in spirit." _And by hologram, by which he'll participate in all the inner circle meetings you'll never attend, little doggie. _

"Indeed." The stout man smirked. "Though I'm certain the Chairman will wish he was here to greet you, Commander Ikari, if only to see your new makeover. I must say, I never imagined you one for vanity."

"Well," he said, brushing his clean jaw line with gloved fingers, "it was either this or buying a sports car."

"I would have gone with the car," he said, tracing a thumb along one side of his mustache. "I myself couldn't part with this old thing."

"True," said Gendo, sipping his drink, "but a clean chin has no break lines to cut."

Tachiki smirked. "Hasn't anyone ever told you paranoia isn't healthy?"

"Paranoia is _very_ healthy, Mister Tachiki. It shows that others place value on your wellbeing."

"Still, I can't imagine why anyone would have a reason to kill you, Commander." He nodded politely at the Secretary-General. "Sir, the Chairman also sends his regards."

"I trust our leader is in fine health?" asked White.

"Indeed," lied Tachiki. He glanced over his shoulder at the duo of Kimio and Alwi. "If you'll excuse me, the Chairman has asked me to make the rounds to the rest of the membership."

"Yes, yes," said White. "Of course."

With a straight face, Gendo said, "You're dismissed."

The stout man walked away without looking back. Gendo considered him.

Mister E. Tachiki - Keel Lorenz's rottweiler.

Smart.

Capable.

An eternal annoyance.

Tachiki had been personally overseeing Unit-04's Super-Solenoid Engine test the day Nevada sank into a Dirac Sea. Keel was rumored to have taken death quite hard. But now he and Fuyutsuki had denied SEELE its S2 Core sample from the 4th Angel... with the butterfly effect how likely was it that there'd be a repeat of a random accident like that?

Tachiki would live to see the endgame.

_This may pose a problem_.

"Yes," said White, reading Gendo's mood wrong, "they did go cheap on the refreshments, didn't they?"

"I suppose," he said, granting White a disdainful nod towards their glasses. "I prefer bourbon."

"Heh. Good man."

* * *

The expected call came in at 4:15 AM.

"Report," said Gendo, sitting up in bed.

"There's been an… _incident_ with the 7th Angel," said Kozo Fuyutsuki.

Gendo frowned ever-so-slightly, putting on a nuanced performance for the bugs and camera spying on him. "Explain," he ordered, sticking to the pre-arranged telephone script.

"NERV deployed Units 01 and 02 to the coast…"

* * *

Gendo wanted to grin as the inner circle of SEELE tore into him for incompetence and negligence and every other crime short of sodomizing puppies. For once, _for once_, everything had gone according to plan.

"It's a humiliation," stated Chiba Kimio, his voice for once not hidden behind the blank stare of a black monolith baring the words 'SEELE-03'. "Two Evas damaged! The cost of repairs alone would bankrupt a small country!"

"We'll need to increase the discretionary budget _again_," said another.

"It will be arranged," answered Secretary-General White, SEELE-12.

"And then there's the matter of the _JSSDF_ being the ones to disable the Angel. An N2 bomb succeeded where two Evas," Chiba glared at Gendo, "_one_ of which was piloted by a Child with _actual training_, failed to do their job."

K. Bugayev leaned back in his chair. "Commander Ikari, I find it troubling that you have yet to terminate the officer responsible for the debacle."

"As do I," said on.

"And I," said another.

Gendo adjusted his glasses. "Captain Katsuragi has proposed an inventive second attack to be undertaken in six days time once Unit-01 and Unit-02 have been repaired. The MAGI estimate it has the best chance of success of any plan available. Considering her track record against the previous Angels, particularly the 5th Angel, I am inclined to agree with the Captain's judgment."

Bugayev asked, "And if she's wrong? If the Evas fail again and nothing stands in the way of the 7th Angel?"

"Then I'll fire her."

"Ikari," boomed the voice behind the lone black monolith in the chamber, SEELE-01, "do not presume to mock this committee."

"I stand by my officers," said the clean-shaven man, "particularly when they have proven their quality to this organization."

"And which organization would you be referring to?" asked Secretary-General White. "NERV? Or SEELE?"

"They are ultimately one in the same."

"What's done is done," announced Chairman Keel, bringing the matter to a close. "Let us hope our hope is not misplaced, Ikari.

"By the power invested in me by God and this committee, I hereby open the 19th Quorum of SEELE."

All around, Gendo included, the members recited their creed, "Überm Sternenzelt richtet Gott, wie wir gerichtet." _Above the starry-sky God will judge, the way we have judged._

From behind the SEELE-01 monolith Keel Lorenz announced, "Before we begin the review of the 108th Quarterly Report on the Human Complement Project, does any member wish to bring a grievance or request before this committee?"

"Yes," said Gendo.

"Commander Ikari, state your intention."

Gendo Ikari steeled himself for what he was to say.

_He goes everything._

"I propose that NERV select and train the Fourth and Fifth Children in advance of the scheduled scenario."

Silence.

Then…

"Outrageous!"

"You demand too much!"

Chiba Kimio scoffed, "I thought such a crude and blatant power grab beneath you, Ikari. Obviously I was wrong."

The council, having all had their turn with the conch shell, looked to monolith towering over the room. Even absent in person, the spirit of Keel Lorenz very much dominated the squabbling membership. In the end it all came to Keel and his opinion.

"Ikari," breathed the SEELE-01 monolith, "explain yourself."

_I get to keep my head for now. _Gendo resisted the urge to smirk. "The performance of the Second Child against the 6th Angel speaks for itself."

SEELE-05, the American representative, scoffed, "It does, Ikari. One third of the U.N. Pacific Fleet gone. The _Over the Rainbow_ obliterated. Half the Congress is calling for a freeze on this year's NERV budget allocation. There's even been rumblings of _nationalizing_ the First and Second branches because of your _Rainbow_ debacle!"

Bugayev stepped in. "If you cannot handle your countrymen then perhaps this council requires a more capable member to hold your seat."

"I resent your implication. Ikari's failure was too public and too personal to contain."

"It's fortunate that the vital damage incurred during the attack was minimal," snarked Eli Abrams.

Gendo stepped back into the fray. "On five minutes of battery power, armed with only a progressive knife, the Second Child managed to fight and defeat an Angel _in the middle of the Pacific Ocean_ with an Eva not outfitted for underwater combat. Her victor is a testimony to the success of her training. Compare that to the results of the Third Child in his sorties."

Germany's repetitive preened, "Indeed. Compared to your son's disappointing performance against the 3rd Angel the Second Child's accomplishment is all the more impressive."

Kimio nodded. "You assured the Oversight Committee with honeyed words that the Third Child would be the catalyst for unleashing the beast within the Eva. Instead we came as near to failure that day as we did fifteen years ago."

"You gave that Eva to your son like it was some toy," remarked Alwi.

Gendo said, "The Third Child is one of only two viable pilots for Unit-01. To _not_ use him in favor of the First Child – a pilot with nearly half the synch ratio – would be unwise even if one were to exclude the fact that such an arrangement would ground Unit-00 for the foreseeable future."

"Perhaps it is time for NERV to perform a Core replacement on that Eva," countered Kimio.

"No," declared Keel. "That method is unproven and may well euthanize Unit-00. We should not risk a fully-functional Evangelion with an unnecessary procedure."

Several other members chimed in with concurrences.

"However," said Keel, "you have yet to justify your request before this committee, Ikari."

Gendo met his criticism. "The Third Child's performance is exactly why we must recruit and train pilots for Eva Units 03 and 04. The Third won his first battle through natural born talent – his first synchronization ratio was at 43.5 percent. Neither of our other Fifth Level candidates came close to that mark during their initial synch, nor have any of the prospective candidates under the auspices of the 'Marduk Institute' shown similar talent. The Third Child's talent is undeniable but it is just that – talent." He adjusted his glasses. "In order to achieve the skill of the Second Child's performance against the 6th it is apparent to me that NERV must recruit and train its pilots in advance of Evangelion Units becoming available."

"This has been discussed in the past," said Kimio, "and not approved."

"Circumstances have changed. The Angels are here. We no longer have the luxury of time and caution with regards to candidate mental stability. In any case the change will be one of mere months. Thus, I feel it is advisable for E-Project recruitment to be accelerated."

Eli Abrams queried, "Commander Ikari, if I may, should this committee approve your request for additional pilots, why stop at the Fourth and Fifth Child? Why not the Sixth Child? Or the Seventeenth Child? We'd have pilots for all the currently planned Units then, all tucked away in Tokyo-3."

"There will be no need for a Sixth Child," responded Ikari. "By the time a pilot would be needed for Eva Unit-05 the Dummy Plug System will be fully operational. The same applies for the proposed Mass Production Series."

There was a lull in the debate into which stepped Chairman Keel. "This proposal merits further consideration," said the monolith. "However, Ikari, I think it would be best to table this discussion for the time being until the membership has had a chance to fully weigh the costs and benefits of it. Therefore I propose to this committee that we freeze debate for today and reopen the issue at the start of tomorrow's session."

"Seconded," said Bugayev.

"All in favor of the motion?"

There was a round of 'ayes'.

"Opposed?"

Silence.

"Very well," said Keel. "Now, to begin our review of the 108th Quarterly Report, I believe the good Secretary-General should brief this committee on the progress securing funding from the Security Council on Unit 11 and 12…."

* * *

_"Well?"_

_Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Gendo, Yui, and Kyoko have been pouring over the reports for hours. At first it seems like something out of science fiction but Doctor Katsuragi's assurances have lent credibility to the presentation. Yui has even stopped sniping at Kyoko; in fact, the two have spent most of the night teasing out math together from the data. The wealth of satellite photos, geological surveys, and material analysis reports is _almost_ enough for them. _

_"I admit," Gendo says to the elderly man seated next to Katsuragi, "it's compelling, but—"_

_"Ah. I was expecting a 'but'."_

_"—but an artificial cavity 13.75 kilometers in diameter buried under the Antarctic ice?"_

_"We've taken to calling it the White Moon," explains Keel Lorenz. He is an old man dressed in a fine black business suit worth more than what Yui shelled out in tuition for her doctorate. He is seated in a wheelchair. His milky white eyes are hidden behind red-tinted designer sun glasses. There is a faint air of that telltale 'old person' smell to him. "We call the one buried under Hakone the Black Moon."_

_Yui takes her nose out of a report on a radar anomaly detected within the sphere. "There's another one?"_

_Keel nods. Gendo can practically hear the old man's neck bones creak from the strain. "Yes. It's exactly identical to the one in Antarctica, right down to the radar anomaly near the Moon's crown." _

_"The core samples taken," Kyoko Zeppelin holds up a file folder filled with sheets of numbers, "of this exotic matter; is this really all you have?" _

_"Unfortunately," says Katsuragi, "despite our best efforts, wave-particle matter has so-far defied analysis. SEELE is hoping you and Miss Ikari can help with that."_

_Yui nods absentmindedly. Gendo can tell from the almost-imperceptible twitching in her fingers that she's already writing her acceptance letter to SEELE. Her next words just cement his reading, "If we're going to get anything worthwhile we're going to need more samples from these anomalies."_

_"A full-scale excavation and retrieval would be best," adds Kyoko._

_Katsuragi says, "An expedition to the pole is being prepared for next year."_

_"By you?" asks Gendo._

_He nods. "If it goes well and our funding holds—"_

_"It will," cuts in Keel._

_"—then we'll do a follow-up to the Black Moon in 2001."_

_"Wouldn't it be easier to excavate in Japan first?" Gendo looks around the room. "The cold and isolation of the South Pole would seem to make it a poor choice when Hakone is temperate and near Tokyo."_

_"Yes," agrees Katsuragi, "but the White Moon samples indicate the presence of Super Solenoid activity."_

_"My God," blurts Kyoko._

_"Quite possibly," says Keel. The old man drinks from a wine glass filled with water. "Also, our source on the anomalies leads us to believe that the White Moon has the most potential for development." _

_"What source?" asks Yui._

_"What sort of development?" asks Gendo._

_Keel lowers his glass without taking another sip. "Ms. Ikari, Ms. Zeppelin, Mr. Rokubungi, tell me, are you at all familiar with the Dead Sea Scrolls?"_

* * *

That night, in a darkened hotel suite, Gendo retrieved a secure satellite phone from an armored suitcase. He had no doubt that his conversation would be tapped, be it through a bug in the room, the phone, over the data link, or through one of the more exotic methods. It didn't matter. This conversation too had a script.

He dialed the number and entered the password. A woman with a pleasing voice picked up the phone. "Please hold for the Vice-Commander," said the secretary. A few seconds later a familiar voice spoke up. "Hello?"

"Fuyutsuki, what is the status of Operation Dropkick?" _(How fucked are we?)_

"Proceeding as planned," begrudgingly admitted the Vice-Commander. Gendo suspected that the pain in the old man's voice wasn't entirely faked. _He never does like to admit he's wrong; must be the academia in him._ "Captain Katsuragi reports that the Second and Third are beginning to show some positive results. Doctor Akagi maintains that repairs to the two Eva will be completed with 7 hours to spare." _(Not too fucked.)_

"And Unit-00?" _(But if we _are _fucked…?)_

"On stand-by if necessary. However, only 30 percent of the combat armor upgrades will be completed by the time of the 7th's attack." _(If we're fucked then we're fucked, but you already knew that.)_

"That is unfortunate but acceptable." _(There's shit we can do about it now.)_

"Might I enquire as to Berlin?" _(Keel smacked you down, didn't he? I told you but you didn't listen. Then again you never do. Bastard.)_

"Everything is proceeding as scheduled." _(I always get what I want eventually.)_

"I see." (_You better or our asses will be in a sling.)_

"Is there anything further to report?" _(How much is the place falling apart without me?)_

"No, sir." _(It's fine. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Commander.)_

"Then that will be all." And with that Gendo ended the call.

He fell asleep reading Yui's handwriting.

* * *

Mister E. Tachiki knocks on his door an hour before dawn. Gendo briefly fantasizes about having his Section-2 escort kill him execution-style. Instead he shucked off his boxers and answered the door in the buff.

"Commander Ikar—FUCK!"

"No, but thank you for the offer." Evenly, he asked the shorter man, "I assume you have a good reason for waking me?"

"Y-yes." Tachiki glared at him. "Chairman Keel requests your immediate presence at his estate. He wishes to discuss a private matter with you."

Gendo nodded. "Very well. Please inform the Chairman I will be there in one hour's time."

"We'll have a car waiting out front."

"I'll arrange my own transportation." And with that he closed the door in Tachiki's face.

* * *

The Lorenz Estate was identical to what Gendo remembered from his first visit in the winter of 1999, though he was certain the security arrangement had improved since then. The snipers on the roof were certainly new.

A butler packing a compact semiautomatic holstered under his suit coat greeted him with a traditional Japanese bow. Keel, like Gendo, appreciated that the small details. The blonde at the airport had been a friendly shot across his bow, reminding him that even with his poor health Keel Lorenz knew more than him (thank you very much).

Still, even knowing it was a mind game, a small part of Gendo Ikari wondered if he'd meet Keel with a grey-haired boy smiling knowingly over his shoulder. That was the magic of mind games, though. The best ones were the games you made someone play on themselves.

_Does Keel have the last Angel skulking around his bunker? Does he imagine he had some sort of leash over Tabris? That the last son of ADAM owes him loyalty to the cause?_ No, Gendo decided, even Keel wasn't that blinded by zealotry. Like NERV, one didn't become head of SEELE by being stupid. More likely he was controlling this Kaworu Nagisa's flow of information, attempting to shape the boy into a perfect tool to use against an erstwhile NERV.

Merging the body of Lilith with the soul of ADAM encased within Tabris in order to start Instrumentality without NERV's assistance... Gendo had to admit it was a _brilliant_ manipulation of the Dead Sea Scrolls. In one neat stroke Keel could sidestep any doubters on the committee, any treachery on NERV's part, and initiate Human Instrumentality without outside aid.

_Too bad it didn't work. Somehow I imagine he never considered Tabris committing suicide-by-Shinji._

Nagisa was also the reason he couldn't kill the head of SEELE anytime soon. Short of deploying an Evangelion to the heart of Germany, nothing could crack the AT-Field of Tabris that likely protected Keel's stronghold. This was fine by Gendo. He could wait for the right moment. Besides, even if Tabris weren't protecting this place the rest of the Angels still remained alive. NERV would never survive in its present form without SEELE backing it. Until the Angels were eliminated he would just have to deal with Keel.

At last the butler escorted him to a set of double-doors on the second floor. It was Keel's private study. Without a word the butler opened a door for him. Gendo walked inside. The lights were dim.

And there he was, his broken body parked in a chair as antiquated as he was. "Chairman."

Keel Lorenz's cycloptic visor stared back at him. "Commander Ikari."

* * *

_It's an April morning in 2000 when Yui pulls him aside from abusing their latest coffee maker. "I was thinking," she says, wrapping her arms around his waist from behind, "if we have time maybe we could take a shower."_

_Gendo understands. It's their code for talking around the bugs SEELE has in their apartment. "Mister Kimio will be _very_ upset with me," he says, already loosening the knot of his tie._

_"Fuck him."_

_Once they've got a good lather worked up Yui explains, "We've got a problem with Katsuragi. He's starting to ask the right sort of questions about September."_

_Gendo rains kisses up along her neck. "We – we'll – just have to – see that – he – gets the wrong sort of – answers."_

_"I don't think he's going to stop with that," she whispers. "If he works out what the Lance will really do…."_

_His hand lingers on her abdomen for a second. Then he breathes into her ear, "We tell Keel."_

_Yui goes rigid. She pulls away from him but he keeps a firm grip on her, holding her close enough so that any IR cameras won't see anything especially strange in her behavior. "We can't—"_

_"We can," he tells her, "and we will." He pulls her back close to him, their bodies pressed together in the steamy shower stall. "Katsuragi's a moron. He has no idea – _no idea whatsoever – _about SEELE's end goal. You know damn well what they'll do when they hear about his questions." Gendo looks her straight in the eyes. "And don't think about recruiting him. We can't risk it. Not now."_

_She looks away from him. "…I know that. I just thought… maybe."_

_Gendo hugs her. It's hard to say who clings to whom more. "We're already killing a few billion people. What's one more? Besides, at least this way we get brownie points from the committee out of Katsuragi's stupidity."_

_"I wish I'd never taken the money."_

_"You don't really believe that."_

_The hot water streams down her naked body as she tries to muscle the conviction to tell him that's he's full of shit. Ultimately she can't because it would be a lie._

_He kisses her. "Still, why waste a perfectly good shower?"_

_She manages a small smile. It's devastating. "Why indeed?"_

_They're both late for work._

* * *

Keel made him stand.

"You can have your Fourth Child," said the old man from behind his grand desk, "as a training experiment. If he or she shows improvement due to their training I'll consider allowing a Fifth Child. I'll leave the selection of the candidate to your discretion."

"And the committee?"

"The committee will bicker, Kimio especially, but they're prone to do so."

"Somehow I doubt you called me here just to endorse my recruitment policy."

The strangest thing about Keel in his old age was that he didn't _move_ as much as _act_. All the twitches and subtle body language ticks of a normal, healthy human being were absent from Keel Lorenz. As a result his shallow, sunken face almost fell into the uncanny valley. Having one's decaying central nervous system partially replaced by cybernetics did that to a person. "I have grave concerns about NERV's current pilot corps."

"Specifically?"

"The First Child has a synchronization ratio that barely qualifies her to pilot. The Second Child's synch score has fluctuated wildly since her encounter with the 6th Angel, vacillating from her high of 73 percent to as low as 40 percent and back again with a three day span. If she were to discover NERV has been hiding her poor performance from her—"

"She will not. Precautions have been taken while Captain Katsuragi stabilizes her mental state."

"But the Second Child is not my primary concern." Keel pressed his lips together. "Commander Ikari, what _exactly_ was going through your mind when you told your son, and I quote, 'fuck you'?"

If he weren't concerned with the sudden increase in the likelihood that Chairman Keel wouldn't let him leave his study alive Gendo Ikari might have laughed at him finally saying the word 'fuck'. _Looks like you owe me a Coke, Yui. It only took thirteen years. Well, fourteen really. _"In my estimation, Shinji would not be motivated by a sense of duty or of responsibility to the human race so long as our history together clouded his judgment."

"So you made him hate you."

Gendo adjusted his glasses. "He already hated me. I just made him come to terms with that hate."

"And what if your plan had failed, Ikari?"

"There were several fall-back scenarios in that eventuality."

"Yet you let your son," bristled Keel, "the designated pilot of Tokyo-3's only functional battle-ready Evangelion, run away for over two weeks. What if an Angel had attacked during that time period? I cannot overlook that sort of error in judgment."

"Forcing Shinji to stay after the 5th Angel risked ultimately poisoning him against NERV and ruining his potential as a pilot," explained Gendo. "The human component of the Evangelion has always been the weak link in our chain of destiny, and the Third Child, talented as he may be, will always the weakest link of all three pilots. This is why I feel we must accelerate our recruitment program."

Keel frowned. "The Second Child demonstrated the dangers of early recruitment. Our manipulation of her personality and character development has resulted in a fragile, overblown egotist. It remains to be seen how she will incorporate the destruction of the _Over the Rainbow_ into her self-image."

"Fragile she may be, but her results in battle speak for her worth as a pilot."

"Which is why I'm approving your recruitment of a Fourth, despite my doubts." Keel straightened up. Gendo wondered if he had actually heard the grind of gears as the Chairman did so. "But consider yourself on notice for your clumsy handling of the Third Child, Commander Ikari."

"Rest assured, that situation has been resolved. The Third _will_ pilot."

"See that he does," Keel Lorenz said, "or I will bring this matter before the full committee so that we might reconsider your appointment as NERV's Commander." He reached under his desk a pressed a button. The door to the study opened, the butler in the hallway was silhouetted by light. "You are dismissed."

"Chairman." Gendo bowed, then turned and exited the study.

It would be the last time either man saw the other alive in the flesh.

* * *

_The bunker was built into the mountainside near Hakone. It wasn't on any map. Rioters and looters and militias couldn't destroy a bunker they didn't know existed._

_The bunker was spacious and outfitted with cutting-edge technology. Its laboratory would make any scientist envious. Its command center was linked by satellites and landlines to the outside world, ensuring a secure connection in the event of any disaster. Generators ensured a continuous supply of power._

_The bunker was the new home of two dozen scientists and soldiers. It was also home to precisely one married couple._

_Gendo and Yui Ikari lay in bed together. Since the former's arrival earlier that day after his Antarctic blitz they had locked themselves in their private room. The rest of the SEELE-approved staff supposed it was just the normal indulgence of newlyweds reuniting after a separation. They weren't entirely wrong._

_Yui rolls over. "Good for another throw?"_

_He is._

_Afterwards he rests his head on her chest and together they stare up at the unfamiliar ceiling of their bunker home. Though he has swept for bugs neither of them are willing to bet their lives that he's gotten them all. _

_"You know," she says lazily, "I'm not on the Pill anymore."_

_"Oh?"_

_"We discussed this."_

_"We did?"_

_"We did."_

_"Huh."_

_"I'm just saying, the timing…"_

_She falls silent. Neither says anything for a long time. Later, when they've fallen half asleep, an alarm sounds in the bunker. Seconds later everything – the walls, the bed, the furniture, everything – rumbles. The quake goes on for a long, long time. The shock absorbers built into the bunker do their job, however, and nothing is damaged._

_Both Ikaris know that the story is different outside the bunker._

_"I've been thinking about names," says Gendo after a while, "since you asked me."_

_Yui asks, "Have you decided?" _

_"If it's a boy, Shinji. If it's a girl, Rei."_

_"Shinji. Rei." She caresses his mussed head of hair. "Good names."_

_They fell silent then as the next earthquake began._

_"I've been thinking of my own name," says Yui._

_"Oh?"_

_She hums an affirmation. _

_"Well, what is it?"_

_"Evangelion."_


	16. Threesomes: Epilogue for Everyone

11e: Epilogue for Everyone

Asuka's snarl boomed out over the public announcement speakers in the Command Center. _"Liar! I know you tried to kiss me while I was sleeping!"_

_"What?!"_ Shinji shouted in outrage. _"Why would I want to kiss _you_?!"_

_"WHAT?! Who wouldn't want to kiss me?! I'm gorgeous!"_

_"Yeah,"_ snapped back Shinji,_ "but you're a _total bitch_ too!"_

**_"WHAT."_**

The officers and staff of the Command Center started to laugh.

Fuyutsuki face-palmed himself. "Those _kids_," he groaned. "They're humiliating us _again_."

Nobody noticed the relieved smile on his face.

* * *

Ryoji Kaji poked his head around the mountain of paperwork on Captain Katsuragi's desk. "Hey there, gorgeous!"

Misato didn't look up from the form she was signing in triplicate. "Get bent."

"Katsuragi, I'm hurt," he said in a tone that indicated he was anything but. "My little rhythm and music plan saves the day and I don't even get a kiss?"

"If you're looking for some easy action, Asuka's downstairs finishing her debrief."

"Er _no_." Kaji's hand darted forward and he stole the UN Environmental Impact Supplemental Statement out from under her pen.

"Hey!" Misato lurched forward put didn't entirely get out of her seat. "Give that back!" Kaji waved it over her head, just out of her reach. "Asshole!"

"Nuh uh uh," said Kaji, wagging a finger at his ex. "I'll give it back to you if you'll say the magic words."

The dark-haired woman slumped back into her desk chair, disgusted with their little game. "Hmph! Fat chance of that now."

"You wound me, Katsuragi." Kaji sighed, then dropped the file back onto her desk. "Still, whatdya say to drinks with Ritsu? We never got a chance before, what with the Angel attack."

"I have paperwork," she said lamely. "And Ritsuko has more than enough work to keep her busy for the night."

"That's too bad," he said honestly. "I was hoping we three could"

_bzzt bzzt_

Kaji flipped open his cell phone and read the text message.

"What is it?" asked Misato.

"Apparently I may already be a winner," said Kaji, snapping the cell shut. "I'll have to tell my friend, the Nigerian prince, about my good luck."

Misato was already absorbed in her paperwork. "Hmmm."

"Good night, Katsuragi," he said, waving.

She said nothing but did nod. Kaji chose to take that as a good sign.

* * *

Gendo Ikari sat down in the armored sedan. A Section-2 agent shut the door behind him. The car immediately pulled away from the helipad.

"So," said Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki, "how was Berlin?"

"Productive," said Ikari. "I forgot about Mister Tachiki."

"You _forgot_?"

Ikari looked out the tinted window. With the protective coating on the glass he could easily make out the setting sun. "Even I make mistakes."

"Will he be a problem?"

"He'll be a factor." The outside world disappeared in a rush of darkness as the car entered a tunnel spiraling down into the Geo-Front. Little could be made out inside the car now. "And Mister Ramamurthy?"

"The Chairman will be arriving on Sunday. I've made the necessary security arrangements."

"That will have to suffice. A-Project is already 6 percent behind schedule."

"It can't be helped," said the older man. "If they catch wind of ARKA"

"Time is running out, Fuyutsuki." The Commander stared at his underling as the manufactured lighting of the Geo-Front exploded into the sedan. "For everything."

The two men sat in silence for a moment, then the older one said, "And the Fourth Child?"

"I'll leave the selection of the Fourth up to Captain Katsuragi," said the Commander. "It's time to cement her loyalty to this organization."

"Hmm." He tugged at his collar but, being mindful of protocol, didn't dare unbutton it outside the privacy of his own home. "I suppose you'll be letting her pick the candidate only so long as it's the _right _candidate."

Gendo Ikari smirked.

* * *

Hikari walked in with the popcorn. "Miss Katsuragi just phoned me."

"Oh?" said Kodama.

"Yes." The pig-tailed girl, her hair let down for the night, settled onto the couch. She passed the bowl to her sister. "She said that Shinji and Soryu will be returning to school tomorrow.

"You going to ask him out again?"

"No."

"Oh. Well, there are plenty of fish in the sea."

"Thank you, Kensuke Aida." Hikari rolled her eyes. "No. I'm not asking him again because it'll make me look desperate."

Kodama arched an eyebrow. "Hoping he'll ask you this time? Or"

Hikari pressed 'Play' on the VCR remote. "Quiet down, sis. I like this part."

* * *

Shinji Ikari set down the bowl of sardines. "Enjoy."

"Wark!"

Clean-up didn't take long. Shinji had refined his system over the weeks at Misato's: dishes first, then utensils, then glasses, then the pots and pans, and finally a general scrubbing. It went faster still since he had been the only one eating. Two neat plates were covered in tinfoil and sat in the over. When he was done Shinji watched some TV and dozed off.

Misato came home first, kicking off her heels as she walked into the kitchen for a beer. Shinji hadn't even heard her until the sharp _hiss-clunk _drew his attention. He looked up to see Misato moseying into the family room. "Hey, Shinji. How was your day?"

"It was fine," he replied. "There's a plate for you in the oven."

"That's alright. I'm not feeling very hungry. I think it's my time of the month." He knew she said that to watch him blush. She got what she wanted. "Where are the girls? I didn't see their shoes."

"Asuka went out, didn't say where," he said. "Rei said she had business to take care of."

"Did she say where she was going or when she'd be back?"

"No and before lights out." Shinji sunk back down into his seat to watch TV. "Asuka was being kind of a jerk about it too."

"Oooo, Confrontational Shinji. Be still my heart," said Misato cattily, hopping onto the couch next to him. She pivoted in her seat and kicked her bare feet onto the arm rest next to him. Shinji _very politely _ignored the long, long legs of his guardian that were draped across his lap. As for the short skirt said legs ran up to well, that went without saying. Shinji quickly flipped to ESPN International and concentrated on the merits of competitive water polo. "Nice little show you put on today after icing the Angel. _Someone's_ adult teeth are coming in."

"Enough already!"

Misato snickered. "You're too easy, Shinji." She drew back one foot, brushing her heel across his lap as she did so. "Now all we need to do is get you a girlfriend."

""

"That's the part where you say, _'Oh, Misato, are you volunteering'?_"

Shinji frowned and glanced at Misato'sFACE. He looked her dead in the eyes, yes sir. "Huh?"

His guardian made a noise of disgust. "Have you learned how to flirt yet? You're a fourteen year old boy, you know."

"I'm not _that _sort of person," he said in his defense.

Misato switched up her legs, drawing one back and extending the other back out. Shinji resumed his study of water polo. "You live with a beautiful woman and two almost-as-beautiful girls. If you're going to survive you'll need to learn how to dish it out."

Thoughts of Asuka ragging on him and everyone around her at the IHOP filled Shinji's mind. _I guess she's pretty, but, man, that attitude. _And then he thought about Rei and her sponge baths and while that was pretty nice soon thoughts of Rei swung back around, as they were prone, to his father. Shinji found he didn't need ESPN so much after _that_. "I'll pass."

"Hmm. What about that girl you hang out with all the time? Yukari something-something."

"Hikari Horaki."

"Yeah!" Misato crossed her legs. Shinji suddenly realized that aside from being an entirely inappropriate form of flirting (teasing? or were they the same?) Misato's legs also trapped him in his seat. There was no escape. "She was pretty cute. Kinda of a Little Susie Homemaker but, hey, if you go for that sort of thing I'm not stopping you."

Shinji rolled his eyes. Misato chuckled with mirth. "She's just a friend, Misato."

She drew one foot back, then forth. Never touching. "Uh huh."

"I don't need a girlfriend."

Back and forth. Back and forth. "Sure, sure."

"I don't! After all, you don't need Mister KajEEEE!!" screamed Shinji in soprano when Misato's foot jerked at the mention of her ex's name and smacked into her ward's nads.

"OH MY GOD, SHINJI!" the twentysomething scrambled up from her seat and was at Shinji's side, helping him lay down onto the length of the couch. "I'M SO, SO SORRY!"

The Third Child rolled over onto the floor. "Owwwwwwwwwwwwww!"

* * *

"So," said Touji, leaning back against the overpass railing, the fading sunlight framing his tall form, "what next?"

Asuka Langley Soryu finished counting the bills in her hand, then eyed the boy next to her with detached disdain. "Next? There is no _next_."

"Oh." The jock looked at his feet. "Kinda figured that."

"Please," said Asuka, "don't try that crap on me."

"Huh?"

The redhead _gaijin _pocketed her take of their photo scam and started walking away. "I'm not Hikari Horaki. I don't go for _sensitive_ men."

"Wh-WHAT?!" Touji shook his fist at the retreating girl. "Don't get so full of yourself! You're nice on the eyes but you'd be hell on any man's soul!"

Without looking back, Asuka casually made a certain hand gesture.

"Bitch!"

She didn't say another word. Touji watched her leave. Then he stuck his hands in the pants pockets of his track suit, pivoted on his heel, and slunk home.

* * *

In the Southeaster corner of Tokyo-3 Ryoji Kaji entered an internet caf and ordered a coffee. He threw some cash onto the counter, then took his drink and sat down at the third station from the left in the fifth row. For several minutes he surfed the internet, checking up on the news and sports scores. Then, just as a handsome brunette with an easy smile sat down across from him, a NERVnet chat window popped up. Kaji wasn't surprised, even by the fact that the computer station he was using didn't carry the proprietary chat program.

**Cassandra:** GOOD EVENING, MY FRIEND.

_It's Ikari, _he knew. _Or someone who works for him_. _No one else has this kind of access to the MAGI. _

**Anonymous: **HELLO.

**Cassandra: **THE 4TH CHILD WILL BE SELECTED SOON.

_Interesting._

**Anonymous: **WHO IS IT?

**Cassandra:** YOU'RE NOT ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTION.

**Anonymous:** HOW ARE THEY DOING IT? WHAT IS THE SELECTION CRITERIA? IS THE MARDUK INSTITUTE A FRAUD?

**Cassandra: **YES. THE MARDUK IS A FRONT.

**Cassandra: **BUT THAT IS UNIMPORTANT, MY FRIEND.

**Cassandra: **YOU'RE STILL NOT ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTION.

**Anonymous:** WHAT IS THE "RIGHT QUESTION"?

**Cassandra**: YOU'RE A SMART BOY. YOU'LL FIGURE IT OUT.

_My, my, someone's dangling secrets to me on a hook. How surprising._

**Anonymous:** YOU ARE MY FRIEND, RIGHT? FRIENDS HELP FRIENDS OUT.

The chat prompt blinked for several seconds then

**Cassandra:** CODE SEVEN ZERO SEVEN

Then, without warning, the chat window winked out of sight.

Ryoji Kaji kept a straight face. He strongly suspected he was being watched. He _knew_ someone was playing a game with him. That was okay, though. He was good at playing games.

He sipped his coffee over a game of solitaire, running down the clock on his hour of use on the computer station.

* * *

Rei Ayanami hefted the bag of trash and spent cleaning supplies over her shoulder, taking one last look around her half-refurbished old apartment. It had taken several hours and the job was still very much unfinished but progress had been made. If she could have, the First Child would have stayed the whole night working, but Captain Katsuragi would be expecting her back.

Though she didn't know it, nor was there anyone there to witness it, a faint smile was traced on her face as she closed the door behind herself as she left.

* * *

Ritsuko Akagi slipped off her skirt, then sauntered over to the couch clad only in her bra and panties, putting on a show for the man waiting for her. However accursed business, as was always the case at NERV, came first.

"The Asamayama Earthquake Research Institute reported an anomalous seismograph reading from Mount Asama," said Gendo Ikari, pausing to sip a bit of bourbon. "NERV will need to dispatch a team in precisely seventeen days."

"Yes, sir." Ritsuko settled across his lap. "Anything else?"

"Make sure that Captain Katsuragi pushes that magma probe past its limits if need be."

She started unbuttoning his shirt, starting at the collar. "Oh?"

"Yes," he said, not helping her. "They'll be an Angel there. I'm sure of it."

"The Scrolls, huh?"

"That's not it."

She smiled, trying to push past business. Risking flippancy she said, "Because you've seen the future?"

"Not exactly." He sipped his liquor. "You see, I'm _from _the future."

He slid an ungloved hand along her upper back, running his calloused fingers along the back of her neck as he did so. Ritsuko shivered. No other man had ever found that spot. "Is that so?" She leaned back and planted a string of kisses along his clean jaw line. It was rare for Gendo Ikari to initiate foreplay, let alone _roleplay_. It was too unusual a thing to ignore and not play along. "What's the future like?"

"Depressing," he said, sitting there, letting her work over him. "Shinji killed me."

She stopped kissing Gendo.

"Although it was probably an Instrumentality-derived manifestation of my inner guilt spawned after Rei betrayed me and helped Shinji initiate Third Impact." Gendo looked her square in the eyes. "It's hard to say for certain," he said evenly, "because reality was breaking down at that point."

She stared at him, the heat in the joint between her legs forgotten.

"Ritsuko," he said, "there's something I need to tell you."

* * *

Beethoven's 5th Symphony shook the walls.

Keel Lorenz suppressed a frown as he entered the sole room on the lowest level of his family estate. It was an angular room, with odd depressions and bends in the walls. A cutting-edge sound system worth eight million Euros had been installed, leveraging the acoustics of the place to bring the full flavor of whatever music played to the person who stood in the center of the room.

But the grey-haired boy in the room's center wasn't standing. He was kneeling in prayer.

"Israfel is dead," said the boy.

Keel said nothing.

"I have read that the 9th Symphony is considered among the greatest achievements of the Lilium."

Keel studied the bare metal chamber through his ruby-colored visor. The neural linkup to his optic nerve was burning again. He needed to have a technician adjust the settings again. "I prefer to look upon science as our greatest work, though I concede that music does come a close second."

"Have you ever heard it? The 9th?"

He nodded. "Many years ago, after the end of a long war. Leonard Bernstein conducted, though he changed some of the lyrics."

"And how did it make you feel?"

"I do not remember."

"Ah. What a pity."

"Perhaps we could listen to it together sometime. I know you have been saving that piece for a special occasion."

The boy smiled, sending a shiver down Keel's cybernetic-modified spinal cord. "I would like that. I shall consider it one of the two things I shall do before the end."

"And the second?"

"I would like to talk with Shinji Ikari before it is all over."

Keel grimaced. "This again?"

The boy smiled. "I cannot help it. There is something fascinating about him."

"Perhaps," Keel conceded. Though he was loath to admit it, he himself held a certain fascination with the child of Gendo Rokobungi and Yui Ikari the boy was another synthesis of SEELE's two greatest minds, just as Second Impact and the Evangelions were. "It is disappointing that the son of Ikari has inherited only the weaknesses of his parents."

The boy chuckled.

"You find me amusing?"

"Yes."

""

"You view them as _weaknesses_."

"I fail to see the humor, though I confess much of what you say is beyond my understanding, Tabris."

The Angel otherwise known as Kaworu Nagisa nodded. "Understanding is not necessary, Keel. Perhaps you could achieve it in time, but you and I both know that humanity's hour is drawing to a close." The boy unclasped his hands and stood up.

"Tabris," asked the old man, "will Gendo Ikari betray us in the end?"

Keel Lorenz and Kaworu Nagisa stared at each other as the strains of Beethoven's 5th shook the listening chamber.

"Obviously," said the boy, "I would not know, would I?"

""

""

"No," admitted Keel. "I suppose you wouldn't."

* * *

# # # END CHAPTER

* * *

**Author's Notes: **A quicker wrap-up than I planned but ultimately I feel it'll make for a better next chapter to do the teen melodrama there. The last bit that dealt with Gendo in Berlin felt like a good enough note to end the chapter on. Also, I couldn't think of an interesting way to redo the dance training montage stuff and that would be as boring for you guys to read as it would be for me to write. Splitting up the chapter into smaller bits made for some interesting character stuff but I think from now on I'll stick to whole chapters from here on out.

I'm not making an ACC 4th Child. And no, it's not Mana Kirishima. You've already met the 4th in "Taking Sights".

Also, thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far. I actually get more than a few ideas from the comments and suggestions you guys make.

Next chapter, the long-promised WAFF chapter, will come late in August. Chapters after that will have longer delays between them as the school year starts again.


	17. Volcano Day

_Special thanks to_ blueinkedlines _and_ shanghairain _for pre-reading this chapter._

_"The Great Classroom 2-A Apple Peel-Off" has been moved back a few chapters for pacing reasons. Thank you for your understanding._

* * *

The elevator descended into Terminal Dogma.

"Gendo," Ritsuko said to him in an even tone, lighting up her ninth cigarette in the past half hour with fumbling fingers, "for someone with an intimate knowledge of our futures you've really managed to screw over NERV so far."

Commander Ikari inclined his head towards his companion and said, "Don't construe my confession as giving you permission for glibness, Doctor Akagi."

"Sorry," she muttered, cigarette dangling from her lips, "but how do you expect me to react to finding out SEELE had me murdered?"

"Like a professional." He stood perfectly still, facing forward towards the car doors. He had no need to watch the ticker. He could already measure the pace of the car's journey by instinct alone from his innumerable trips down to and up from the Terminal Dogma on this elevator. "Besides, I have no intention of allowing Mister Kaji to discover the true purpose of Rei and leaking it to the old men this time around."

"Thanks." She stared up at the clicking level counter, breathing in and out through the haze of gray smoke that enveloped her. "God, I hate this muzak crap. If they're going to play Sinatra just use the real thing."

He adjusted his glasses. "As for my performance, let me just say that I find myself beginning to empathize with Cassandra."

"We're going to need S2 Engines to deal with the 14th Angel; we might even need to bring the Lance into play."

"I've considered that last option," replied the clean-shaven man, "and dismissed it. The last time we used the Lance on an ADAM-strain Angel the Second Impact happened. We would have to use it well before the 14th enters the city limits to minimize damage to NERV HQ from the resulting explosion, if indeed the damage would be limited to a heat and kinetic energy blast. The Lance has different effects with different Angels." Gendo recalled the electrical inferno from the energy-based 15th Angel's destruction. The EM shockwave alone had fried every single satellite within its horizon. "Besides, SEELE would ask too many questions."

Ritsuko raked her fingers through her hair. She took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. "When are we bringing in Captain Katsuragi?"

"Not until she's a Major," he replied, "and not until I have the Lance."

"We should bring her in tonight."

"No."

"But the 8th Ang—"

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "I said 'no', Doctor."

The elevator shuddered slightly as it slowed.

He asked her, "May I?"

Wordlessly, Doctor Akagi handed over her cigarette. He accepted the offering, took a short drag, and then handed it back.

"Don't worry," he said, exhaling smoke out his nostrils. "I have a plan."

"What? Like your plan not to warn us about the 5th Angel's particle beam weapon? If Captain Katsuragi hadn't--"

"But she did."

"If Captain Katsuragi _hadn't_," said Ritsuko, "Shinji would likely have been killed."

The elevator came to a smooth halt. There was a pause, then the car's doors opened with a tinny electronic _ding_. Gendo gestured towards the opening. "Ladies first," he said, a hint of his normal condescending charm leaking into his voice.

The blonde scientist briskly stepped forward.

The pair navigated the twilight depths of the Dogma in silence, with Ritsuko taking her lead from her lover. Several minutes later the twosome approached an otherwise non-descript laboratory. Nothing indicated it was anything but one among dozens of other labs abandoned in place after the preliminary spawning and cyberization of Unit-01 had been completed over a decade beforehand. The cold steel door of this particular lab was emblazoned with the designation ROOM 601.

"I keep everything here," he said, tapping his forehead with a gloved finger. "However, I recognize that human memory is fallible with the passage of time, so when I first came back I started a... journal of sorts... to keep certain facts straight." He gestured to the locked door. "It grew."

Ritsuko regarded the doorway with dubious humor. "I see."

He pulled a PDA out of his uniform jacket and tapped out a sequence of commands. The heavy mechanical lock of ROOM 601 shifted with a dull clang. The steel door slid open. Beyond there was only darkness. Though hesitant, Ritsuko still entered first. He waited a moment, then followed.

The door closed behind them.

* * *

# # # presenting # # #

* * *

**TAKING SIGHTS**

**Chapter 12 – Volcano Day**

**Written by: Lavanya Six**

**(please don't sue)**

* * *

# # # another installment in a continuing series # # #

* * *

The two teens stamped down the school stairwell.

"NO!"

"Come on!" said Touji, padding down the steps, "I'll pay you a lot of money to do it for me!"

The redheaded European girl wheeled around and hissed at the tall Japanese boy, "Shut up! Do you have idea how perverted that sounds?!"

"Er... oh. I guess it does sound bad." His laughter echoed up the stairwell. "But seriously, you're not going anyways so why not make a lot of money while being stuck here?"

Asuka glared up at the boy. "I am _NOT_ babysitting your little sister while you're scuba diving in Okinawa!" She pivoted around and hopped down the stairs.

"Come on!" he called after her, following the Eva pilot down the stairs and then out into the school's courtyard. "Don't be such a bitch!"

It should be noted that in addition to Asuka and Touji there were several other students lingering outside the school. It wasn't so much a crowd as a motley crew of hangabouts killing time waiting for their friends to finish their after school chores. All of them knew the bantering pair, if only by reputation; Touji as the forward to the school's now-discontinued basketball team, Asuka through the grapevine of gossip and because it was hard to miss the one redhead in the whole school. All these stragglers collectively winced at Touji Suzahara's words. One girl from Classroom 2-B whispered an "oh, shit" while a trio of upperclassmen held back their laughter in deference to the fire works about to explode from the Second Child.

They were not disappointed.

Asuka spun around, the dark look on her face enough to clue in Touji that he had just made an error in judgment. "You don't get to call me a bitch! You don't get to call me ANYTHING!" She stepped towards him. He held his ground. "This _pathetic _little _crush_ of yours—"

The tall boy snorted in derision. "Whatever, babe."

"Oh, admit it! You've had it out for me since we—" and here she paused, not wanting to speak an inconvenient truth about their prior association, before deftly recovering "—met!"

"Why the hell would I have a crush on you?" He hastily added, "And I don't. Nuh-uh, no."

Asuka laughed. She half-turned, giving him a devastating three-quarters view of her profile, and flipped her luxurious red hair over her shoulder. "Who wouldn't have a crush on me?"

_Man, how can someone be so full of themselves? Like I'd have a crush on her! _"You may be easy on the eyes," he said, "but who'd want to be with someone all delusional and crazy like you?"

"Crazy," she said flatly.

"Hey, if the shoe f—"

He never saw Asuka's punch coming.

* * *

Up in Classroom 2-A, two teens were standing at a more than respectful distance away from one another.

Bucket of dirty water in hand, Shinji Ikari asked, "Um, if that's all…?"

"Y-yeah," said Hikari, clutching the handle of her broom a bit tighter than she ought to, "we're done here."

From outside, carried on the air from the windows, there came a great chorus of gasps, laughs, and claps. Hikari dashed over to look and see what had happened. Shinji followed. Both looked down onto the courtyard and saw a ring of people standing around the Second Child and Touji, the latter of whom laid flat on the ground. His face was a bloody smear. He rolled over on his side, hands cupping his ruined nose, moaning painfully.

"ASUKA!" cried Hikari. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

The redhead looked up at the second story window. She flexed the fingers of her right hand and said, "Nothing." Asuka looked around the assembly of witnesses. "None of you guys saw anything, did you? He just fell down."

No one said anything.

Hikari shouted, "L-look at his face! You broke his nose!"

"I didn't do it."

"You have his blood on your knuckles!"

"Huh?" The redhead looked at her bloodied right hand. "Huh."

"Well what do you have to say for yourself, young lady?!"

Asuka regarded Hikari and Shinji for several seconds, then shrugged.

* * *

Officially, NERV employed three primary languages: English, German, and Japanese. Even with the British Empire long dead and the American Century fifteen years in its grave, English still served as the _lingua franca_ of international business and diplomacy. Most UN officials and command-level NERV officers were fluent in the language and NERV used it to coordinate its global activities. Even the major NERV hubs in Germany and Japan, the homes to NERV's other two official languages, still featured English as the first language on all signs and documentation.

Doctor Akagi, who had overseen the instillation of the various MAGI systems in NERV bases around the world, was fluent in English and German in addition to her native Japanese. Doctor Akagi, however, did not speak a lick of Hindi. Nobody bothered to learn it post-Impact, not with the nuclear devastation of that subcontinent during the chaos of 2000 AD. Thus she and Doctor Ramamurthy carried on their dialogue in the only language they mutually understood.

"_Doctor_," said Ritsuko, concentrating on pushing her tongue to properly form the unusual sounds of English, "_welcome to NERV_."

"_It is an honor to meet you_," said Doctor Ramamurthy in English accented with a rare post-Impact Indian lilt. The thin man sported little color in his gray hair, though he was only eight years the blonde's senior. A hard life in a refugee city that occasionally found itself downwind of radiation zones did that to a person. "_I must admit, though, that I never expected to be here. There is simply not much work to be found in my field these days._"

Ritsuko withdrew her hand. "_Yes, well, your expertise is a resource that NERV is eager to tap._"

"_NERV_," he laughed. "_How strange. Even seeing the footage from that robot rampage I didn't quite believe such things were real._"

"_We try to keep out of the news when possible._"

"_Yet giant robots are not enough to fight God's Angels? That you needed to pull an old man out of a refugee city to make—_"

"_It is a precautionary measure_," interrupted Doctor Akagi.

Ramamurthy's smile faded some. "_It is a treaty violation._"

"_It is not illegal if NERV says it's not._"

"_Hardly reassuring._"

"_You're here, aren't you?_"

"..."

"_You and your team will be kept totally anonymous. You will be working out of a lab in Terminal Dogma. No one will know you are connected to Project ARKA._"

"_ARKA_?"

She nodded. "_Officially, we are referring to this as ARKA, or Project-A. In my own oversight of Evangelion R&D, I am the Chairperson of Project-E._"

The grey-haired man wrinkled his weathered brow. "_Does ARKA stand for anything in particular?_"

Ritsuko shrugged. "_You would have to ask the Commander._"

"_Ah_." He scratched his chin. "_And will Mister Ikari be gracing us with presence?_"

"_The Commander keeps his own schedule._" She made a show of checking her watch. "_If there is nothing else, I need to be at a meeting._"

"_No, Doctor Akagi. My team and I are well supplied._"

"_Very well. If you or your assistants need anything, just contact us through the secure line._"

"_Thank you. And good night, Doctor._"

* * *

Grey clouds heavy with rain filled the sky over Tokyo-3. As the hidden sun set, the rain began to fall in a light but steady patter onto the city.

In a bit of serendipity that neither party believed innocent, Ritsuko and Ryoji caught the same taxi at the Fourth and C Street topside train station. The spy regarded the blonde with a warm plastic smile as he walked over to her, moving to bring her under the cover of his umbrella. "Ritsu," he said, "my, how delightful! Now we can catch up and plan tricks to play on Katsuragi!"

Ritsuko adjusted her coat's lapels, trying to ward off the drizzly twilight's chill. "I don't think she'd appreciate that," she said, stepping into the cab, "considering the day's she had."

Kaji closed the door and settled down. The taxi sped away from the rail station. "Oh?"

"I'd have thought you'd have heard from Asuka already."

The spy frowned. "Something happened to Asuka?"

"More like Asuka happened to someone." At his lost look, she explained, "A boy at school got into an argument with her. She decked him, broke his nose."

_"...what?"_

As the taxi made its way across town, Ritsuko recounted the twisted tale of waivers and irate school officials to her friend. "So they struck a deal where she's not suspended but she can't go on the school trip. Not that we'd allow her to anyways."

"Huh. Still, it seems like a bit of an overreaction for a schoolyard brawl."

"She did it in front of several eyewitnesses," Ritsuko replied.

Kaji looked out the rain-soaked window. "She really punched out that boy?"

"Yes."

"That could almost be funny."

Ritsuko thought about it. "Probably," she said, "but it's not when it's _her_."

* * *

They found Misato waiting for them at the bar, hunched over a beer bottle. They took up stools on either side of her.

"Evening, gorgeous," said Kaji. "I heard you had quite the day."

Staring at her reflection in the bar's mirror, Misato finished off her beer. The empty bottle dangling from her lips, she said, "Yeah. Made me decide to never have kids." She signaled the bartender.

"I figured that out for myself years ago," said Ritsuko.

"Speaking of Asuka, is Unit-02 ready?"

"Ready for what?" asked Kaji.

The blonde explained, "I've been overseeing the preparations for equipping Unit-02 with the D-Type Equipment." The bartender came by with Misato's beer and Ritsuko ordered a light cocktail. "It's a precautionary measure in case Misato's commandeered probe finds something tomorrow."

Kaji absorbed that information. "An offensive?"

"If there's even an Angel," said Misato, sampling her new beer and finding it agreed with her, "and only if the Commander can get the Committee to agree. A captured enemy could yield a lot of useful information."

"Interesting…" Kaji reached for his back pocket and retrieved a slightly crumpled pack of smokes. He plucked one out and then tossed the pack onto the bar. He paused. "Damn." Looking over at the bottle-blonde, Kaji asked, "Can you light me up?"

"I don't have my lighter on me."

"Hmph. Right. If you want to say 'no', Ritsu, just say so."

"I don't have my lighter on me because I'm trying to quit."

Misato snorted into her bottle. "Yeah, and I'm giving up beer."

"No, really." She held out her right arm and pointed to a round, discolored patch on the inside of the upper-arm. "See?"

"Holy crap," said the dark-haired woman, dropping her drink onto the bar. "You are! Why?"

She smirked warily. "I've just been thinking about my future."

Kaji smiled generously. "My, my. Our Ritsu is finally getting on the wagon. What's next? Maybe I'll take a vow of chastity."

"I can help you with that," snarked Misato. She waved down the bartender for yet another round. "So how's the patch working?"

Ritsuko's lip curled up at one end. "Not that well, to be honest. I think I made Maya cry today."

"That bad, huh?"

"Remember how you were that week in college when I got you into AA?"

"Oof."

Kaji looked at his ex with an appraising eye. "You were in AA?"

"For three days," admitted Misato, taking a swig of her latest beer, "but I didn't belong there."

_"Really."_

"Every single one of them just talked about what they lost in the Second Impact," she muttered. "Like I needed that crap."

Ritsuko, without her usual prop, fiddled with her cocktail napkin instead. "You know," she said, eyeing the wood grain of the bar, "sometimes I step back and think about how insane our world is. Angels and Evas aside, twenty years ago our lives would have been seen as appallingly weird."

"I never would have been allowed to do anything important in the military," said Misato. "Hell, Japan and the UN didn't even have _real_ militaries pre-Impact. Now they'll take women too."

Kaji said, "I'd probably be a boring salaryman, punching the clock." He grunted, then picked up his beer. "God help me."

"Hey," said Misato, "remember when we drove cars that ran on petrol? Or you could just buy a plane ticket and fly anywhere you pleased without filing for it with the government months in advance?"

"Ugh. Don't mention that. It makes me feel old."

"The children don't think it's strange," said Ritsuko. "It's just the world they grew up in. I mean, do you know how many children in Shinji's class still have both their birth parents alive? Zero." Neither of her friends reacted. "Twenty years ago that would have been considered crazy. Today it's not all that unusual." She shook her head. "What a strange world we live in."

Misato sagged against the bar. "I guess." She ran a thumb around the lip of her beer bottle. "Sometimes I worry about the children. Not just Shinji and Asuka and Rei, but their friends too."

"Cheer up, Katsuragi," said the man, patting her on the back. "Children are the most adaptable creatures of us all."

"They're hormonal headcases," replied the Captain. "Or maybe just headcases."

A dip in the conversation followed, as the two other adults suddenly felt ill at ease with their friend's unfortunately phrased confession. Kaji, with the help of the bartender, lit up a cigarette to fill the silence, which in turn put a hungry look on Ritsuko's face. Rubbing her forehead to dull a sudden headache, the blonde said, "So is it Asuka or Shinji?"

"Both," said Misato, staring into her beer. "Rei too."

Kaji, restraining a note of amusement in his voice, asked, "Rei Ayanami's a headcase?" _I would never have guessed._

"They're all headcases," said the dark-haired woman. "Rei's getting weirder. Shinji's is petty as hell with anything concerning Rei. But if Shinji's moody, Asuka's… well, she doesn't say anything, but I can tell she's thinking about the _Rainbow_. That's probably why she decked that boy today." Misato set down her beer and flicked off the moisture on her fingertips. "Not to mention what happens when two or more of the children are in the same room together." Misato looked away from her friends. Quietly, she confessed after a moment of uncertainty, "I'm wondering if it's time that we all stopped living together."

Ritsuko raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Misato picked up her beer and chugged half of what was left in the bottle. "Rei? You know what she's been doing lately? She breaks into her old apartment and _kills time. _I had Section-2 check it out. She reads books, studies, does homework, naps… she'd stay there overnight if I hadn't ordered her not to."

"That's it?" asked Ritsuko.

"Yes!"

"That's not weird."

"She wants to sleep in a hellhole! It doesn't even have a lock on the door!"

"You think Section-2 would let a rapist or a burglar get within a hundred yards of that door?"

"That's not the point!"

"It was her home," supposed the stubbly man. He loosened his already lazy-looking necktie knot a bit more. "She lived there for years." Kaji cast a glance towards his other friend. "Though _why_ she lived there for years is a question."

Ritsuko drummed her fingers on the bar. "That was the Commander's decision. Besides, Rei never so much as talked about moving. She's only living with Misato because she was ordered to." The blonde winced internally as she realized how bad that sounded. "Sorry."

"No, no." Misato waved off her friend's comment. "I suspected as much myself."

"Well, look on the bright side," said Kaji. "If they all don't get along at least they aren't fooling around with each other."

Ritsuko rolled her eyes. Misato wrinkled her nose. "God," said the dark-haired woman, "don't even joke about that."

* * *

**The Next Day**

A shadow fell across Shinji Ikari's physics notebook. He looked up. "I thought you were going to swim."

"Changed my mind." A waterlogged, bikini-clad Asuka Langley Soryu snuck a foot under the leg of the nearest unoccupied deck chair and pulled the whole thing out. Toweling off her damp hair, she plopped down. "Didn't feel like it."

"Oh." Shinji looked back to his textbook.

Absentmindedly curling and uncurling her right hand, Asuka smirked. "On the bright side, at least I still look good in a swimsuit. Unlike some people I know…"

* * *

**Elsewhere, over the Pacific Ocean…**

_Ping. _"Your attention, please; we will be landing shortly at New Naha Airport. Passengers, please fasten your safety belts and stow your trays in the upright and locked position."

The few dozen teenagers on the airplane erupted into applauses and cheers. More than a few of their chaperons and supervising teachers joined in.

Kensuke Aida turned to his friend and said, "Oh man! We're here! We're finally here! Think of all the babes! The bikinis! The swimming! I can't wait to hit the beach! Can you?!"

Touji, his broken nose bandaged up under a big white 'X' plastered across his face, glared with two blackened eyes at his friend.

"Er, sorry."

Touji looked away with a scowl. "Stewphid Gerrmahn bhytch."

* * *

A minute or so passed before the redhead suddenly interrupted his quiet. "What are you studying so intently, Shinji?"

"Thermal expansion," he explained, looking at her. With a frown of discontent, he added, "It's my physics homework."

"Thermal expansion?" exclaimed the Second Child. "That's kid stuff!" She sat up in her seat, straightening her shoulders and holding her head high. "To put it simply," she lectured, "things expand when they get hot and shrink when they get cold."

"Well yeah, but—"

Shinji froze when Asuka brought up her hands to her wet bikini top and cupped her bosom. "Look, if I were to rub my breasts to make them warmer through friction, would they get smaller or bigger?"

He blushed, feeling as if one of them should feel some shame at this immodest display. Eyes darting down to his physics notes, his thoughts were a jumble. _Why does she keep doing things like that? I know she's a show-off but it's like she doesn't have sense of decency. And what kind of girl would rub her breasts in front of me? Hikari wouldn't do—_

At that moment, as he thought of his would-be girlfriend, something clicked for Shinji Ikari.

He blurted, "You're flirting with me!"

Asuka startled, as if struck. It was not the shock in Shinji's statement that hit her, it was the lack of a question mark. She opened her mouth, closed it, then opened it again. Finally, blushing a bright scarlet that matched her hair, the German girl sputtered, "Wh-what?! No! I-I don't know what the hell you're talking about! Get real!"

The redhead's hasty, badly-composed denials were the final proof for Shinji's theory. _It... what? WHAT?! A girl... is flirting with me? And it's ASUKA?! _"Oh my God," he said quietly, his internal monologue bypassing his brain to go straight to his mouth. "You _are_! You're flirting with me!"

"Don't be stupid, Third Child!" shouted Asuka, knocking her chair back as she stood up. Gripping the edge of the table, she leaned over and said, "Why would I ever flirt with you? Honestly! A girl has to have standards! I've never been so insulted in my whole life! What do you have to say for yourself for being so stupid?!"

Shinji supposed she expected him to apologize. Well, that's what he would have supposed if he was in any position to suppose at all. Instead the Third Child's attention focused on the valley of cleavage the Second Child showcased as she leaned over the table at him. The angle wasn't conductive to modesty; it did, however, help Shinji experience first-hand the concept of thermal expansion. Fortunately for his nose, the rim of the table blocked Asuka's view, keeping her unaware of Shinji's learning experience.

It took three point four seconds for the Second Child to realize why her opponent wasn't responding and where his attention was focused. "Eek!" she screamed, snapping back. With one arm across her chest, hiding it from view, she yelled, "PERVERT!"

"I'm, um, er--"

Shinji distantly noted, as he stumbled over his own words, that Asuka's blush had deepened and spread across her whole body (a peril of skimpy swimsuits).

Grapping her beach towel and wrapping it around herself, Asuka said, "That's it! That's the last straw! I'm leaving, you stupid pervert!"

Watching her walk out of the pool room, Shinji realized something. _Another pretty girl flirted with me, _he realized, _and I completely fucked it up again._

"Ugh," he said, banging his head on the table with a hard _thump_. "Shinji, you idiot."

* * *

Nearly a kilometer below, while the Second and Third Child engaged in bungled flirtations, a meeting took place in Room 333, the home to the captive Angel _Ireul_.

The Commander adjusted his glasses. "So you're saying you know nothing?"

"Yes," replied Doctor Akagi, holding her ground, "but now I know _I know_ nothing about the Super-Solenoid. This sample," she gestured to the dura-bakelite encased Angel chrysalis, "has proven useful to the extent that we can disprove our existing theories. However, with the Angel not yet matured the S2 Organ itself hasn't fully developed either."

That statement gave the Commander pause. "Doctor, if you are proposing what I think then perhaps I have vastly overestimated your intelligence, not to mention your good sense."

Akagi stifled a flare of irritation. "If ARKA fails, we'll need S2 Engines in our Eva Units if we're to have any hope of destroying the Mass Production Series. The only way to acquire the data I need is to study a live S2, and the only way to do _that_ is to awaken Ireul and study the development process of its S2 Organ during birth."

Gendo Ikari looked away, drawn into a world of his own thoughts. Ritsuko Akagi waited patiently for several minutes, standing ramrod straight and keeping a professional demeanor as her boss and part-time lover considered her proposal. At last, he came back into focus. "I'll make the necessary arrangements. You'll coordinate with Major Katsuragi on the details of this operation."

"_Major_ Katsuragi?"

"Her promotion is coming down the line," he said. "Her plans for the 5th and 7th Angels greatly impressed certain members of the Committee."

"I didn't think that was possible."

Commander Ikari chuckled. "Yes, well, even Keel's inner circle needs to keep up appearances in front of the UN. Not rewarding Captain Katsuragi could raise issues with the UNCMF brass, and realistically her promotion amounts to little more than a slight pay increase. After today's successful gambit against the 8th Angel the challenge for securing her promotion prior to my retrieving the Lance will be minimal."

"I see."

He asked, "Is there anything else?"

"Yes," she said. "It regards your time travel."

Almost imperceptibly, Gendo's eyes narrowed. "Yes?"

"Do you ever wonder," asked Doctor Akagi, "why you came back when you did?"

"As we've discussed, I believe it had something to do with the Third Impact, though the exact agent of my time traveling is still a mystery to me."

Gendo, she had long ago recognized, practiced the political art of answering the question he wanted and not the one he had been asked. However, she was curious, so for once she pointed out, "That wasn't my question."

"Hm." The Commander adjusted his glassed, staring at her all the while. She tried not to shiver. "I have," he replied, "but I have no satisfying explanation. Do you have a conjecture, Doctor?"

His tone of voice made it clear to her to this subject sat somewhere between Yui and "Have you ever touched yourself while thinking about Rei?" on the scale of _Conversations We Are Not Going to Have_. So she just said, "No."

Later, once Commander Ikari had left her to her work on the S2, Ritsuko fiddled with some of the sensors, teased out data from the gestating Ireul, and passed on the information to the MAGI for processing. It wasn't urgent work. She could have handed it off to Maya but Doctor Akagi wanted to keep busy while her mind turned over the subject of time travel.

Why, she wondered, did Gendo come back on _that_ specific day, the day of the failed Unit-00 Activation Experiment? It could have been random, maybe pure happenstance that Gendo Ikari arrived on that day, mere seconds before the Eva went berserker, but Ritsuko doubted that notion. The timing was too perfect. There had to be some importance to the moment.

If Gendo had been sent back just to stop Third Impact, why not simply send him back a day or two? Or if he was intended to be a better father to Shinji (and Rei, she reluctantly supposed) why not send him back to 2004, the day after Yui's accident, or to 2010, when Rei's first body had been decanted?

Yet the more she considered the matter, the more Ritsuko found herself feeling ill at ease with Gendo's time of arrival.

Rei's injuries and Gendo's burns that day were important events, she admitted, but ultimately inconsequential. The only thing that mattered was the short-term loss of Unit-00. Without that, she doubted the Commander could have convinced the Committee to unfreeze Unit-01. With that event the necessary conscription of Shinji as the Third Child followed. As for the impossibility of replacing an injured Rei with a new, healthy clone… there was something there that Gendo hadn't told her, some reason why he held such a fascination with Rei-II and why he treated her like a daughter.

As far as Doctor Ritsuko Akagi could see, Gendo had been sent back in time as far as possible without preventing the circumstances that led to Shinji coming to Tokyo-3 in order to pilot Unit-01. That meant that the Eva... Yui... had her son back without someone (or some_thing_) taking a roll of the dice on Gendo making serious long-term changes to the timeline that could have prevented him from sending Shinji into battle.

Which begged two questions: why did this mastermind, the force responsible for the time travel, want to make sure Shinji and not Rei piloted Unit-01? And for what purpose was Gendo sent back in time for?

"And why doesn't he care?" she asked the empty room.

There came no reply.

* * *

Asuka stood under the showerhead, letting the heavy spray of hot water wash her free of the smell of the pool. Her head bowed, the Second Child stared down at nothing in particular. The organic flow of water down her nude body, the cascade of water off her dangling hair, was mere background detail. Her gaze had moved beyond the material.

"Stupid Shinji," she muttered, closing her eyes, trying to forget why she had scrambled out of the pool right after plunging into it. Pushing aside the discomfort of that memory, the surge of naked fear in her heart, she focused on her anger at Shinji; anything better than the truth. "Stupid, perverted Third Child."

* * *

"An A-17?" asked Shinji.

Asuka's eyes lit up. "We're going on the offensive?!"

* * *

NERV established its field command center at the base of Mount Asama. Several trailers sat arrayed in neat rows, nested together in a weave of power cables and high-speed data lines. At the eastern side of camp a small antenna farm connected the base to NERV HQ and its MAGI supercomputer via encrypted satellite uplink.

Inside Command Cabin "B", Captain Misato Katsuragi and Doctor Ritsuko Akagi oversaw the continuing operation with their staff. Both Misato and Ritsuko were working towards the successful completion of the mission, though each had a different definition of what success meant.

"Unit-02 is approaching the Angel," reported Lt. Hyuga. "All coolant feeds at maximum flow; heat readings edging out of the Green Zone. D-Type equipment is still stable, though."

Maya Ibuki said, "There is no change in the Angel or its chrysalis. Energy output by the target is minimal but stable. No sign of activity."

Dr. Akagi glanced at her digital wrist watch, counting off the seconds on the timeline she had memorized from Gendo's "journal". _You better have remembered this right, you bastard._

Captain Katsuragi looked to Lt. Aoba. "What do her vitals look like?"

"Accelerated heart rate and high adrenalin levels, but within expected tolerances."

Misato nodded. "I see." Over the radio line, she said, "Asuka, prepare to engage the magnetic cage."

_"Roger." __There was a pause__. "I'm fine, by the way. Thanks for asking."_

"You're a soldier," shot back Misato, "and I'm your commanding officer. Do you _want_ me to coddle you?"

_"You would anyways if I was Shinji."_

On another radio line, the Third Child piped up, _"Hey!"_

_"Oh, you know it's true, Shinji!"_

"That's enough, you two!" snapped the Captain into her headset. "Save the bickering for AFTER the operation. Understood?"

_"Yes, ma'am!"_

_"Sorry, Misato."_

The raven-haired woman looked over to Maya's station for an update on the Angel only to find Doctor Akagi smirking over the lieutenant's shoulder. "What?"

"You know," started the blonde, rubbing her right upper-arm absentmindedly. "Asuka's right."

Misato's hand flew to her headset's mouthpiece. Checking first to make sure the connection was off, she then grimaced and said, "They both may need coddling, but neither of them needs to hear that. They just need to come back alive."

Before Ritsuko could respond to that analysis, Lt. Hyuga announced, "Unit-02 has engaged the magnetic cage. Field output is stable. The chrysalis is ours."

* * *

Across the mountain, in a gondola gliding along its support cable, Ryoji Kaji made casual conversation with a matronly woman who shared his ride with him. In her lap rested a dozing puppy.

"The A17 isn't important," said Kaji, irritated. "I've been compromised by someone inside either NERV or SEELE."

The woman rubbed her puppy's offered tummy, resulting in lazy tail wagging. "Cassandra."

"Yes. And before you ask I don't have any leads. Whoever is behind the handle has administrator level access to the MAGI and its sub-systems. There're maybe four or five people in Tokyo-3 who could pull that off."

"Assuming the MAGI haven't themselves been compromised," cautioned the woman.

Kaji snorted at the suggestion. "NERV doesn't do 'compromised'."

"Except, apparently, in your case."

"Yes, well…" He craned his head at an angle to see the contrails of the bombers circling overhead. "No luck on the 4th Child's ID yet."

"No Marduk Report has been issued."

He smirked. "That's because Ikari hasn't selected his pilot yet."

"Oh?" The woman reached into her pocket for a bit of kibble and then fed it to the young dog. "You've at least made some progress there, I hope."

"Nothing concrete yet. I'll let you know if Casandra's tip pans out."

"I must admit that the prospect of it doing so doesn't sit well with me."

"I'm not hot for it myself, but it scans with what we know so far about sixty odd dummy corporations backing the Marduk."

She nodded. "In your last report, you mentioned some turnover in Section-2."

"Yes," laughed the spy. "Apparently the Commander discovered a few leaks during his time in Berlin. Along with Kim, that makes five just in the last month."

"Hm. And Ikari's behavior?"

"Aside from Unit-00 and the beard thing, he seems to fit what I'd expected. There aren't even any rumors about the bastard floating around the water cooler. The Commander appears to be off limits to the rank and file."

The gondola approached its destination.

"Before I go," said his contact at the Japanese Defense Agency, "a mutual friend asked me to remind you that though you have discretion with regards to field sanctions."

"Oh?"

"You are _not_ to sanction either Doctor Akagi or Captain Katsuragi under _any_ circumstances. They're too important to the war effort."

Kaji dropped his cigarette nub to the gondola's floor and then ground it under his heel. "I wasn't going to kill my friends anyways, but thank you."

The old woman stood up, her now-sleeping puppy cradled in her arms. "They're not your friends, Ryoji. They're NERV. Do try to remember that."

She walked out of the gondola.

Ryoji Kaji stepped out a moment later, then looked up at the heavy machinery ringing the mountaintop. Above, their contrails milky white scars across the face of the blue heavens, a squadron of bombers waited for the order to carpet the mountain with N2s. _Believe me,_ he thought to himself, _I will._

* * *

"Damn it!" swore Ritsuko, upset even as the Commander's plan unfolded. "It's waking up!"

"Asuka, jettison the cage! We're aborting the operation!" Misato shouted out orders for the staff. "Reel Asuka in! Get her out of there!"

* * *

Inside the volcano, the newly born 8th Angel, Sandalphon, opened his ring-shaped maw and screamed inhumanly under a sea of molten rock. Pushing out with its long, serpentine arms, Sandalphon ripped his way out of his birthing chrysalis. As he did so, his immature body was still twisting and warping under an accelerated rate of growth, transitioning from pupa to adult in one leap.

Slowly drifting downwards, away from the retreating Unit-02, NERV's magnetic cage was barely fit to restrain the Angel for more than half a second. The Angel needn't even trigger its AT-Field, the fragile web of heat-resistant metals and magnetic fields broke apart from a simple strike by its limbs. Swimming out, Sandalphon met the heat and liquid rock of its home with open arms, trilling shrilly at the joy of his own birth.

The Angel pivoted and shot out at Unit-02, whipping past the Eva and speeding off into the lava.

* * *

_"Asuka, report!"_ ordered Misato.

"It's fast! This is bad. I've lost sight of it and I've got poor visibility in this magma." She didn't add, '_and it looks like a fish', _because that would just make matters worse. Better not to say it, a part of her reasoned; just deal with the situation. Instead the Second Child nervously babbled, "I'm also really hot, and this suit's plastered to me and it feels disgusting. This whole situation really sucks!"

_"Understood." _

Asuka could hear her guardian roll her eyes. She bit back an insult, instead turning her irritation at the thing she was fighting.

The Eva continued its ascent.

"Shiest! Where the _hell_ is it?" She scanned her field of vision, peering out through the phantom senses of her Eva and her dive suit's sonar. Breaths even and deep, the Second Child, armed with only a prog knife, waited.

Unbeknownst to even herself, Asuka started flexing her right hand.

* * *

_...ting... ...ting... ...ting... _

"Nothing on sonar," Lt. Ibuki announced quietly. In the darkened cabin her face was illuminated by the glowing orange and green hues of her console's bank of monitors. The tinny, steady electronic chirps from the surveillance suite were the only source of noise. Everyone in the field command trailer stood motionless, listening for any change in the regular musical tone. "There's definitely something out there, but the motion sensors aren't giving us anything useful at this temperature and pressure.

_...ting... ...ting... ...ting... _

Hyuga said, "Unit-02 is at 800 meters and rising. ETA one minutes, fifty seconds."

_...ting... ...ting... ...ting... _

Ritsuko, eyes glued to the sonar monitor, futilely reached into a pocket of lab coat for her lighter. She then patted herself down when she didn't find it, confused for a few seconds before remembering that she had quit smoking.

_...ting... ...ting... ...ting... _

"Unit-02 is at 750 meters and rising."

_...ting... ...ting... ...ting... _

Aoba tried to focus on monitoring Asuka's vital signs and not on the sick feeling building up in his gut.

_...ting... ...ting... ...ting... _

"700 meters."

_...ting... ...ting... ...Ting! TingTing! TingTingTingTingTing!_

"ASUKA!" shouted Misato.

* * *

Asuka barely had time to discern the indistinct form of Sandalphon before the fish-like Angel rushed her, clamping its deadly ringed maw onto the helmet of her Unit-02's D-Type dive suit. For an instant Asuka Langley Soryu found herself transported away from this sea of red heat back to the deck of the annihilated _Over the Rainbow_. In her mind, she was no longer battling Sandalphon but Gaghiel.

"RRRRRAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH!"

A scream of rage and loathing burned its way out of her throat. Her prog knife struck wildly at the monster, its aquatic form blurring between the 6th and 8th Angels. The scream and the blade were equally effective.

"_Rrrugh! MISATO! _It's… NOT WORKING!"

* * *

"Its physical constitution must be incredible to open its mouth and withstand the heat and pressure of its environment," quickly explained Ritsuko. "The prog knife won't work."

Over the radio Asuka screamed, _"OH REALLY?! NO SHIT!"_

She continued, "But if we can decrease the temperature using Unit-02's coolant we might be able to crack its defenses."

"Thermal expansion!" said the Second Child.

"Asuka!" shouted Misato, getting on the radio. "We're going with Ritsuko's plan!" She looked to Hyuga. "All coolant pressure to the first pipe!

"Yes, ma'am!"

* * *

With the plan in motion, Asuka's prog knife sunk into the hide of the Angel. Despite the heat all around her, the Second Child watched the writhing monster with growing trepidation. Rationality had no place in the darkness of the teen's mind as she waited for the struggling creature to die and exploded in a destructive fireball. Only this time her AT-Field wouldn't save her. This time it would take out her Eva's dive suit and cable tether, and with those things Asuka herself.

The Angel struggled under Unit-02 tender care, its fish-like body attempting to wrench itself free from the Eva's grasp. It was a futile effort, at least until Asuka made a mistake.

Sandalphon, near death and in unimaginable pain, went limp as the damage to its Core approached the 'no return' point for healing itself. Asuka, half-sick on memories of the 6th Angel, fearfully withdrew her knife from the wounded creature, believing it about to blow up in her face. The Second Child closed her eyes, anxious to have it be over… and feeling an odd relief at the idea of ending it all.

The Angel, however, was _not_ in its death throes. Removing its powerful sucker mouth from Unit-02's helmet, Sandalphon pushed off the Eva and limped away. Asuka opened her eyes with a start as she watched the Angel disappear back into the distant hazes of the liquid rock.

"Schiest!" she swore, thinking back to the deck of the _Rainbow_, watching Gaghiel swim off to build up speed for an attack. "It's going around for another jump!"

_"You're nearly out of coolant,"_ said Captain Katsuragi over the radio, _"but you should have enough to make it out!" _

"Damn damn damn." Falling back on her training, Asuka cycled through her sensor scans, searching for some hint of the Angel. There wasn't any, so she fell back on the Mark One Eyeball. Scanning the field of molten rock, Asuka saw a whole lot of nothing. More and more as she looked out her Eva's sympathetic optic nerve, the scent of salt on the wind filled her nostrils. The dogged little voice of criticism in the back of her mind started talking and Asuka found she couldn't shut it up. Worse, she just _knew_ it was telling the truth. "Oh, God. Damn. Damn. D-damn." _Oh God. I don't want to die. Not like this._

Inside her chest, a fist closed around Asuka's heart.

* * *

_...ting... ...ting... ...ting... _

"Asuka's heart rate just spiked to 165 bpm!" shouted Aoba. "She's beginning to hyperventilate!"

"What?!" asked Misato.

_...ting... ...ting... ...ting... _

Ritsuko blinked. "She's... she's having a panic attack?"

Aoba's hand flew over his station's keyboard, sorting out the data on his monitor. "Her synchrograph is starting to reverse!"

_...ting... ...ting... ...ting... _

Misato's head whipped around. "What?!"

"Unit-02 is at 250 meters and rising."

_...ting... ...ting... ...ting... _

Misato got onto the radio. "Asuka! Listen to me! You have to calm down! You need to control your breathing or you're going to blackout!"

There was silence on the radio.

"ASUKA!"

_"I... I... can't."_

Maya said, "Her synch ratio is down to thirty percent!"

_...ting... ...ting... ...ting... _

_"ASUKA! PULL IT TOGETHER, DAMN IT!"_

* * *

Inside her Eva's entry plug, the Second Child forced herself to keep her eyes open. _This isn't the pool, _she reminded herself. _You can't just leave and screw around with Shinji's head when the water freaks you out. Remember: the Angel is out there. You have fight it. If you don't the Angel will_--

.

.

_"HA! GOT YOU, YOU BASTARD!"_

_"Bully!" cheered the Captain over the comm._

_But then the broken Core flared and there was light and heat and heat and heat and heat _

_heat_

_heat _

_heat_

.

.

--fuck!" she swore. _This is a different Angel! No one is going to die! You won't fail again! _Asuka tightened her fists, then forced them open. Haltingly, her breathing slowed save for jerky fits when her control trembled (but held). _This is a different Angel. No one is going to die. You won't fail again. This is a different Angel..._

* * *

"Synchrograph stabilizing at 41.3 percent! Heart rate decreasing to 123 bpm!"

"Unit-02 is at 100 meters and rising. Extraction in twenty seconds."

_...ting... ...ting... ...ting... _

"Shinji!" said Misato, flipping her headset to the other Eva's channel. "Get ready to lay down suppression fire when the Angel attacks Unit-02!"

_"Roger!"_

* * *

Evangelion Unit-02, encased inside the D-Type Equipment, emerged from the surface of Mount Asama's lake of fire. Lava streamed off the super-strong material of Unit-02 protective dive suit as the gigantic mecha rose into the air. Inside its entry plug, a pasty-looking and sweat-soaked Asuka Langley Soryu willed her Eva to take up a defense posture. On the rocky shores of the crater, Unit-01 waited, pallet rifle raised.

Asuka stared down into the glowing magma, weapon ready.

Five seconds passed.

Ten.

Thirty.

A full minute.

Then another.

And one after that.

"It's gone," Asuka said at last. "Where the hell did it go?"

* * *

Misato ripped off her headset and violently threw it down. "GOD_DAMNIT_!"

"Sonar's clear down to eight hundred meters," reported Ritsuko, "but if the Angel was using an AT-Field we'd at least be able to detect its presence to a depth of two kilometers, give or take a hundred meters."

Maya, clearly confused, looked up at her Sempai. "But... where is it then?"

"More like where is it going," snapped Misato, "but we already know that." Without asking, NERV's Operations Director pulled off the nearest techie's headset. Putting it on, she toggled the channel for the Evas. "Asuka, Shinji, dump your gear and get back to the Deployment Area on the double. We're wheels up in fifteen minutes." She turned to Aoba. "Alert Tokyo-3 of the situation. Have them scramble Unit-00 to Terminal Dogma ASAP. I'll forward my battle plan once we're in the air."

"You think the Angel's headed to Tokyo-3," said Ritsuko. It wasn't a question.

"Yes."

"Do you think we can get back in time?"

"No idea," replied Misato, "but if we don't Rei's going to have to solo this one and that'll just piss Asuka off."

_"D-damn straight!" _rang the voice of the Second Child.

Misato turned off the radio link. She stood still, body rigid, for half a minute before Ritsuko asked, "Are you actually going to let her fight?"

"They're all headcases, Ritsu."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Hm. I didn't, did I?" Hyuga and the rest of the techs filed out of the darkened cabin into the blinding light of day. Misato turned and followed them out. Calling back to her friend, she said, "I'll let you know in a few minutes."

.

.

**NEXT CHAPTER: The Battle for Tokyo-3!**


	18. Sandalphon: Part 1 of 2

_Special thanks to_ blueinkedlines _f__or pre-reading this chapter.__

* * *

  
_

It was nighttime. The world was silent.

On the shore of a desolate beach two women sat. More precisely, there was one woman and one gangly teenager. The woman was happy to enjoy the soft call of the surf rising and retreating and rising and retreating along the shore. The teenage redhead appeared to be at that age where a child takes on an adult's form but not their maturity. She did not find the ocean vista spread before her impressive.

Also, the teen did not move.

She displayed no ticks, no sudden movements. She did not even blink. She simply... existed. Her poise transcended grace into something faintly disturbing, hinting of the Uncanny Valley. To observe her would lead one to inevitably conclude that she nothing more than a fresh corpse – if not for the damning counterevidence of her chest rising and falling with shallow, paced breaths.

"Asuka," began the woman in Japanese, breaking the hours old silence, "how do you feel?"

"It is weird," she enunciated in careful German. "I feel... heavy**." **She flexed her right hand, but stopped when she thought about how _He_ used to do the same thing. "I do not think I will ever get used to hauling around meat again."

"But it works, right?"

Asuka hummed her satisfaction.

"_Everything_?"

"Christ," she said, torn away from the calming repetition of the surf. "It's always about the pussy with you, is it not?"

The older woman coughed.

"Are you blushing?" asked Asuka. She stared up, up, _up_ at her traveling companion. "I cannot tell under all that armor." When the last of the Ikaris failed to respond, she carried on. "The plumbing works fine, though I seem to have forgotten the concept of bladder control. I am not really hungry or thirsty, though." She rubbed her stomach gingerly. The movement was entirely mechanical in execution. "I feel heavy."

"You mentioned that."

"Well, I do."

"You aren't going to try and 'lighten up', are you?"

"No."

"Because it takes a lot of work to put your vessels together."

"I am not going to kill myself again, Mrs. Ikari. I am not crying or screaming or ranting anymore, am I?" She slid her toes into the cool chocolate-colored sand. Asuka supposed it felt pleasing. "Besides, what would be the point if I did? It would just be a waste of time. There is nowhere left for me to go."

"Or me," added Yui softly.

"You do not count!" insisted Asuka. "You had a choice in the matter, so do not go bitching to me about your lot in life." She looked away from Yui's body and stared out onto the choppy waves of a lifeless sea on a barren world. "I am perfectly well aware."

Yui looked up at the starry sky. A rusty light fell upon her masked face from the twin slivers of the two fat red moons that hung low in sky. That moonlight mattered little. The night was almost painful to look into; so many stars burned above them. "Where do you want to go next?"

"What is the point? There is only darkness and dust out here."

"Thank you, Nietzsche."

"For someone who personifies the Übermensch, you have a shocking lack of understanding about what Nietzsche was writing about."

"Sue me. I'm a scientist, not a philosopher."

"Well, some of us _were. _Some of actually bothered expanding our horizons when we went to college instead of plotting the annihilation of their species."

"As I recall, you only took three hours of credit in philosophy, Miss Expert."

"So? You are – _were_ – supposed to be an Ark of Humanity but you know fuck all about Nietzsche, History, and the Smurfs."

"I know he said 'God is dead.'"

"Which just goes to show you know shit about Nietzsche." For the first time in centuries, Asuka willing managed to shift her features into something that almost resembled a glare. She tried projecting it at her traveling companion. "But if you want to be literal, God _is_ dead. We killed Her. You, me, NERV… _Him_." A large wave came in, washing up to Asuka's ankles. She observed it happening, then watched the water retreat. "God is dead. I watched Her bones erode down to sand. I watched Him run away."

"Asuka," Yui said carefully, "you're not here because God hates you."

"I know," she said. "I am here because God hated Himself."

"..."

"I knew God better than you, Mrs. Ikari."

"…maybe you did."

"You know," she mused, voice cold and brittle, "if it had been Him you were stuck with, you would be happy. If it had even been Her, you would still be all right. Instead you found me. And I got you instead of my Mama. Hell really is other people." Asuka looked up at Yui's towering form. "If I knew how, if it was even possible, I would kill you."

"Well, if it's consolation, I think with the careful application of my AT-Field we _might_ be able to have sex."

"Mein Gott!" snapped Asuka. "Get your mind out of the gutter!"

"What? I'm bored. You're bored. It's about the only thing we haven't done yet."

With an honesty lacking any trace of levity, the redhead countered, "I would rather spend _another _five billion years _screaming_ then sleep with you."

Yui shrugged. The ground trembled as her weight shifted slightly. "Your loss." She let the sound of crashing waves take the edge off their conversation, then spoke again after several minutes. "Just… let's not fight, Asuka. It's a lovely night."

Despite spoiling for a fight, the former Second Child did set aside her anger. For the moment. Feet in wet beach sand was a rare occasion. Besides, there was time enough to fight later.

"So," said Asuka, "whose turn is it?"

Yui looked over to her. "It's your turn."

"Oh. Okay." She looked up at the strange constellations overhead, the ones that held more red than white now, and began their ritual again, _"Once upon a time there was this little girl and her mama..."_

* * *

# # # presenting # # #

**

* * *

TAKING SIGHTS**

**Chapter 13 – Sandalphon (Part 1 of 2)**

**Written by: Lavanya Six**

**(please don't sue)**

* * *

# # # another installment in a continuing series # # #

* * *

Fifteen minutes after the Evas were loaded onto their transports, Neo-Path 200 and 300, two of the half dozen Airbus Ultra-Heavy Transports in NERV's private fleet, lifted off from the Mount Asama Area. The twin planes trudged over the Japanese countryside with a convoy of light VTOLs carrying staff and MIG 55D transport helicopters carting heavy equipment back to Tokyo-3.

Aboard Neo-Path 300, the transport hauling Unit-02, a conference was taking place. Asuka listened with Shinji, who attended via a video-linkup that took up half of one of the small walls of the room, as they were briefed by Captain Katsuragi on the battle plan.

"We have no idea when Sandalphon will attack," said Misato. "It could be in five minutes. It could be five hours. In any case we can't risk wasting time with a landing so you'll be air dropped into Tokyo-3. Asuka—"

"Yeeesssssss?"

"Unit-02 is to take position on the Geo-Front surface adjacent to Central Dogma."

Asuka sagged.

"You'll protect the Command Center in the event the Angel goes after the MAGI. If Sandalphon approaches Tokyo-3 topside you'll be sent up first. It'll take at least six minutes to retrieve Unit-00 or 01 from Terminal Dogma in the scenario. If the Angel does attack Terminal Dogma, it will take four minutes for the Linear Carriage to carry you down." She turned to the video screen. "Shinji?"

"Yes, Misato?"

"You'll join Rei in Terminal Dogma. Unit-00 has point."

Asuka exploded. "What?! I should be down there! I should have point! I've got the training! And the First has the lowest synch rat-"

"Can it." Misato's tone made it clear she was not in the mood for the Second's antics. "Rei's operated her Eva in Terminal Dogma before. The place is a maze but she knows the terrain. Rei takes point." She paused for a moment, mulling her options, then added, "And for the record, Shinji has a higher synch ratio than you now."

Asuka clenched her jaw and her fists, but in a rare show of tact, said nothing more.

Hyuga maneuvered around Misato and to hand the Second Child a data pad. Misato explained, "We'll reach the drop zone in 52 minutes. Until you board your Evas, I want you both to familiarize yourselves with the layout of Terminal Dogma. Doctor Akagi will brief you once the MAGI have had a chance to crunch the data we obtained from the volcano. Hopefully we'll be able to find a chink in the Angel's armor."

Asuka set the data pad down, balancing it on her plug suit-clad knees. "And if we don't? That thing was tough as hell, Misato. My prog knife just slid off it. And last time I checked coolant lines weren't exactly standard combat issue."

"Then we'll go with Plan B."

The redheaded gaijin frowned. "Plan B?"

"The SDS warheads."

_"Schiest!"_

"It's that or Third Impact. Now, both of you start reading. There's only 51 minutes until we reach the drop zone."

Shinji nodded in the affirmative, then closed his video link.

Asuka stood up to leave the cramped conference room. Misato stepped forward and grabbed her nearest elbow. "Wait." The redhead turned and looked at her CO, then, with disdain, at the hand laid upon her. "We need to talk about what just happened."

Without a word, Hyuga walked out of the tiny room and shut the door behind him.

* * *

_"Units 01 and 02,"_ chimed the voice of Lt. Hyuga, _"be advised we are sixty seconds from the Tokyo-3 drop zone."_

Through the sympathetic nerve links of her Evangelion, Asuka Langley Soryu stared down at the countryside trailing past beneath her. As they neared the Toyko-3 metropolitan area, the hollowed out ruined cityscapes that littered Japan's coastlines gave way to patches of urban areas. Ahead, peaking their heads above the mountains that ringed the area, were the skyscrapers of Tokyo-3. Asuka wondered why they had yet to be retracted.

_"After you reach the LZ, advance southeast down International Highway 245 until you reach Access Lift 97. There will be power cables waiting for you. Reconnect to the grid, then proceed to the Geo-Front. Acknowledged?"_

"Unit-02 acknowledges," grunted Asuka.

_"Yes. Um, Unit-01 also acknowledges." _

A glowing overlay of the landing zone appeared on her HUD. Her Neo-Path began to bank to the left.

Lt. Ibuki came on, _"Be advised, NERV reports no seismograph anomalies or ground-penetrating radar contacts. Angel status unknown." _

_You better not screw me over_, _Misato, _thought Asuka. _I'm not worthless. I'll show you!_

The primary restraint bolts on Unit-02 gave way. The Eva began to slide down its mounting fixture.

_I'll show you all!_

Unit-02 fell.

* * *

.

**FIVE DAYS LATER**

.

* * *

**12:01am**

Unit-02 shuddered as the restraining bolt locked into place. Asuka Langley Soryu leaned back in her Entry Plug's throne and reflexively worked through the checklist for shutting down her Eva. She performed the operation with a collected efficiency, long used to the motions required. Before she deactivated Unit-02's external cameras, she spotted a blue giant being wheeled across the huge Seventh Cage. Broken from her routine, Asuka's fingers fumbled over the plug's butterfly controls and paged open a secure radio channel to the blue Eva. "Seeya on the flip side, Ayanami."

_"Roger."_

"Asuka," announced Lt. Ibuki, "we're shutting you down now. Prepare to dis—"

"—embark after ejection," said the redhead, stretching out lazily as the LCL began to cycle and drain. Her spine popped. "I know what I'm doing. I've done it a million times before."

"…sorry."

* * *

"This is the Second Child," said the teen over the radio, "signing off."

The line cut out.

"Man," pronounced Aoba, absentmindedly tapping out a drum beat on his computer console, "someone's cranky."

Lt. Ibuki said, "Who can blame her?"

"We're all exhausted." Hyuga sighed, pushing his eyeglasses up and massaging the bridge of his nose. His sentiment was mirrored across the Command Center as First Shift moved to replace Third Shift.

The three senior bridge bunnies, however, remained seated. They, unlike their peers, were on 24-hour call unless relieved by Doctor Akagi or Captain Katsuragi, both of whom had seemingly forgotten or simply chosen to ignore their subordinates' human limitations.

"At least we can walk around, instead of being stuck inside metal tubes eight hours a day." He moved to stand. "I'm getting some coffee. Who wants some?"

Maya stood first, stifling a yawn behind a cupped hand. "You stay. You never get the cream right in mine."

"That was _one_ time."

"Soy has no place in coffee, Shigeru." She turned and made for the exit. "I'll be right back."

"Bring back donuts!" Aoba shouted after her. "With sprinkles!"

* * *

"I've had this song stuck in my head all day," said Kaji, slouching in his chair at the break room table. "For the life of me, I can't remember what it is."

"Huh," said Dr. Akagi, fiddling with her lighter. "Me too."

Misato Katsuragi did not bother looking at her pager when it buzzed. After a hundred and ten-odd hours into NERV's longest Second Stage Alert, she automatically knew when the shift changes took place and was apathetic to them. If there were an Angel, the alarms would ring.

"Asuka's off now, isn't she?" asked Kaji, munching on a powdered donut. He was careful to avoid dusting sugar onto his stubble.

"Thank God, too," said Ritsuko. "I'll sleep easier with Rei down there."

"You find time to sleep?"

"Cat naps," she answered.

"Ah."

"I'll feel better once Shinji's downstairs," added Misato, standing. "I'd even rather have Asuka, come to think of it."

"No faith in the Commander's favorite?" needled Kaji.

"Rei's competent," offered Misato, sliding the coffee pot off its hot plate, "but she's hardly frontline material. She doesn't have the fight in her. She's not a warrior."

"She follows orders," said Doctor Akagi.

"Following orders makes you a soldier, not a fighter."

Kaji bowed his head melodramatically and swept one donut-wielding hand in front of him in supplication (incidentally, scattering dots of powdered sugar onto his pants). "I bow to your wisdom,_ Sensei_ Katsuragi."

Misato ignored her ex as she refilled her mug. "Asuka's our melee fighter, or at least she was before the volcano. Even Shinji would be better than Rei." She set the pot back and reached for the sugar. "Rei's strictly support, especially with that patchy Eva of hers." She glanced at her blonde friend. "No offense."

Feeling too lethargic to banter, Ritsuko replied matter-of-factly, "Unit-00 is fine now, Misato. Whatever its flaws, we've worked them out in the later models. After all, we've never had any problems with Unit-01 or Unit-02, have we?"

"No." She plopped herself back down in a chair at the break room table. "My only problem is that they're not the one patrolling Terminal Dogma right now."

"Trust me," Ritsuko said, not quite believing what she was about to say, "we're safe in Rei's hands."

* * *

_Only 178 days until I can die, _Rei Ayanami chanted to herself.

Clinging to the lift cable, Unit-00 descended into the long dark of the Main Shaft. Its passage lit only by the waxy yellow glow of the sodium vapor lamps sprinkled along the kilometer-long vertical tunnel.

_He promised. He promised that if I tried living he would allow me to die._

_Only ten Angels and 178 days to go until I can finally die..._

* * *

Asuka drew a long, wet lock of her hair in front of her eyes and grimaced in disgust. "LCL," she muttered, eyeing the almost-imperceptible film that coated her hair. "Fuck."

Twisting the knob controlling the showerhead to a higher heat, the Second Child eyed her toiletries bag resting on a nearby ledge. The kit contained the dozens of hair and skincare products that she used to maintain her appearance. _But what's the damn point if I'm just going to get back inside the Eva in sixteen hours? So stupid! Fuck Misato's plan._

The plan, if Asuka could bring herself to even call it that, consisted of patrolling on three shifts.

One pilot would spend eight hours in Terminal Dogma, synched with their Eva. There they would stand vigil until either the Angel attacked (looking more and more unlikely) or until they were relieved by the next shift. Once they were off-duty, they and their Eva would ascend to the Seventh Cage, disembark, shower, and then fall dead asleep in the bunkroom next to the boys' and girls' pilot locker rooms.

Then, after less than eight hours of sleep, the pilot would be woken up, prompted to suit up, and then spend another eight hours standing around, this time in the Seventh Cage, waiting for an Angel Alarm to sound. During this shift the pilot would eat, relax, and kill time until it was their turn to relieve the person on-duty in Terminal Dogma.

Eight hours in the darkness, aboard an Evangelion. Eight hours (less, really, with showering taken into account) of sleep. Eight hours lounging around in a plug suit (which sucked, because the suit was itchy without being immersed in fluid).

Three shifts spread over twenty-four hours, day in and day out.

This had been going on for _five_ days.

Five days without seeing the sky. Five days without any sort of private time. Five days of Asuka catching people looking at her out of the corners of their eyes.

But Asuka did it anyways - without complaint - because the alternative was worse. If she breathed so much as one bad word, showed a sliver of weakness, then she was sure Misato would carry through on her threat from their friendly chat on the plane.

"Not my mother," she whispered.

Tired of being wet, tired of being on edge, and most of all tired of being tired, Asuka twisted the water valve of the shower to OFF. Lingering only a moment in the comforting steam, she picked her head up and grabbed a clean towel. Draping it over her shoulders, she strode out of the shower, around the corner, into locker room...

…and straight into Shinji Ikari.

* * *

_"No one likes an eavesdropper,"_ Maya's mother had told her. The lieutenant had taken care to follow her mother's advice all her life, always mindful that there were limits on how far one could intrude into another's life without permission. Maya supposed it was one of the reasons – though a _minor_ reason – why Doctor Akagi had taken her on as her protégé. The young woman trusted her _sempai_'s judgment even in the more… morally squishy areas of NERV's domain.

Yet when she heard her sempai's voice drift around the corner, Maya paused mid-step, her morality suspended when the question asked tugged at her own curiosity. Here was a chance to answer the question that was on everyone's lips these past few days.

"What exactly did you talk about with Asuka," her _sempai_ asked, "and why is the Commander letting her pilot Eva?"

"What we talked about is between Asuka and I," came the response of Captain Katsuragi, her tone friendly but the steel in it apparent, "but it's enough to say that I trust her to pilot Eva for now. The Commander agrees."

"Asuka isn't stable," declared her _sempai_. Maya was forced to agree. "She shouldn't be in an entry plug."

"I trust Asuka to not fail."

"Your trust doesn't exactly reas—"

"Now now, ladies," said Mister Kaji, pausing for a moment to yawn, "no fighting over the past, especially not with Miss Ibuki eavesdropping."

_Fiddlesticks_. "Um, sorry," said Maya, stepping out from around the corner.

The three old friends, all seated around a table, looked unimpressed with her espionage skills. Mister Kaji smiled slyly as he eyed her up. Captain Katsuragi seemed more concerned with Doctor Akagi's irritated expression.

"Maya," said her _sempai_ in that lecturing tone she only used when she'd found bad code in Maya's work, "what do _you_ think about Asuka's performance at Mount Asama?"

"Um…"

"What she's asking," Kaji explained, the good cheer in his voice slipping away, "is if you think Asuka is crazy."

Maya went with the first, most professional 'passing the buck' that came to mind. "Maybe it would best for Asuka to talk with someone. Professionally. She's been through a lot of traumatic events in her life."

Mister Kaji and her _sempai_ said nothing.

Captain Katsuragi, however, snorted in a distinctively piggish manner. _"Psychologists."_

Lt. Ibuki retreated behind the three empty coffee mugs in her hands. "Ma'am?"

Mister Kaji stepped in. "You'll have to forgive Katsuragi. She doesn't truck with shrinks."

"But if Asuka's not able to cope with her psychological issues then she shouldn't be allowed t—

"Everyone has psychological issues," interrupted Captain Katsuragi, stirring her coffee. "What happened with Asuka and her mother was horrible, but is it really any more terrible compared to what any of us went through in the Second Impact?" On this, Maya was forced to agree. "And we all made it out okay." She set her spoon aside and blew across the surface of her milk- and sugar-laden beverage. "Leave Asuka alone. She'll be fine."

"Could you top me off?" Ritsuko, leaning back in her chair, thrust out her half-empty mug behind herself. Misato took it, filled it, and handed it back. "Thanks." The Operations Director rejoined her co-workers at the table. Ritsuko said, "You know, Misato, it wasn't too long ago that you wanted Rei to see a psychologist."

"That's because Rei _needs_ professional help. The girl's just messed up." No one moved to disagree. "Asuka just needs to man up."

"And Shinji? You said he was a headcase too."

"Shinji needs more friends and he needs to get laid," explained the Captain, tapping a neat fingernail rhythmically against the side of her coffee mug. "Men are simple."

Mister Kaji thumped his chest. "You wound me."

"Oh, shut up."

* * *

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" screamed Asuka, quickly throwing her towel around herself.

Shinji backpedaled away from the near-naked irate German girl, taking two and a half steps before his back slammed into the row of disused lockers. "I, um, er, uh." The girl's _very_ exposed skin highlighted the growing red blush of righteous anger. "Wh-what are YOU doing in the BOYS locker room?!"

"What? No! You're in--" The girl froze. Her eyes darted around the room. Shinji didn't expect an apology as the truth sank in, though, a part of him noted, some form of embarrassment would have been nice. Instead, Asuka swore in German and glared at him like it was his fault.

"What?"

If possible, she clutched the small towel closer to her curvy body. "Don't keep looking at me, Shinji! What are you, stupid?!"

_("That's my line.")_

Shinji Ikari shivered as an awful sense of déjà vu washed over him.

Asuka, of course, misinterpreted his response as something else.

"Pervert!"

She brushed past him, going out of her way a half-step just so she could hit him with her shoulder on her walk to the locker room cold welled up inside him. Shinji mumbled something under his breath.

_"What?"_

The Third Child startled. Hiding his hands in his pants pockets, he said, "I-it's nothing."

"No," said Asuka, turning about and stalking towards the boy. "No. I want to know what you just said."

"I didn't say anyt—"

"Bull. Shit." She got up into his face, thrusting an accusing finger at him. Shinji backed up into the lockers. Asuka moved in, trapping him. "If you have something to say, say it to my face."

Shinji swallowed back the bile that threatened to rise up in his throat. He tried to look the redhead in her eyes but found the gleam in them disconcerting. Very conscious of how close their bodies were, he said, "Y-you know what I said, Asuka."

"Maybe I misheard you," she said, her breathing shallow and rapid. Shinji noted the swells of her breasts through the damp yellow towel. "Maybe I want to hear you say it again to clear up any _misunderstanding_ we have."

"I... I only said..."

"Yesss?" she asked, drawing out the pain.

_Bitch._

"...that you look like you should get more sleep."

Asuka snorted but backed off. "Right."

Staring at a bare spot on the far wall, Shinji whispered, "It's what I said."

"Whatever." The Second Child turned her back to him and walked towards the locker room exit. "You disappoint me, Shinji."

Shinji's hands clenched into tight fists. Before he could stop himself, he called out, "Like I care what a coward thinks!"

Silence.

The two teens stood frozen in place. Asuka, closer to the doorway than the boy, stopped mid-step, one hand clenching the fluffy yellow towel around her body. Shinji, meanwhile, felt his blood run cold.

Without turning around, the Second Child said flatly, "You think I'm a coward."

Shinji stayed silent. Inside his chest, his heart pounded harder and harder as the Fight or Flight instinct kicked in.

"You think I'm a coward," she repeated, voice still toneless. "That's a laugh coming from you." She turned her head and glanced at him from out of the corner of her eye. "I'm not the coward here. I've never run away from piloting Eva."

"No," he admitted, his pulse pounding in ears like some devil's song, "you only had a breakdown while pil—"

"SHUT UP!" She snapped, wheeling around to glare daggers at him. "Shut the hell up, you little shit! You have NO idea what happened!"

"I know what happened," Shinji replied, finding it oddly enjoyable to watch his normally condescending roommate lose her temper. The whole experience was a bit like standing outside himself, making his mouth say things that he could never bring himself to say. It was a bit like playing a game of pretend. "You're so arrogant all the time, always talking yourself up like you're so superior," he stalked forward and, amazingly, Asuka took a half-step back, "but _you screwed up_. Just like with the 7th Angel! And this time Rei's going to have to help me carry your dead weight too." He paused, half-amazed he could make his mouth say these things, then added as the final comeuppance, "I'm not sure what's more impressive – that you somehow managed to beat the 6th Angel on your own or that you didn't get yourself killed doing it."

Asuka narrowed her eyes. Her bare shoulders began to tremble, though with what emotion Shinji was not certain. The diversion of his attention to her bare white skin and the wet, uncombed strands of crimson-colored hair draped behind her shoulders struck up an odd thought inside him.

_She's thin_, he thought to himself.

Not thin in the sense of attractiveness or health, Asuka was thin in the sense of youth. There was not much muscle nor much fat there; she was undeveloped. In those bare shoulders, skin still flushed from the heat of the shower, Shinji suddenly saw that Asuka Langley Soryu was the same age as him. She was _like him_. He looked at her again, as if for the first time, and saw an angry fourteen year-old _gaijin_, dressed only in a towel that ran from armpits down to show more than a little leg.

_"Third Child,"_ she said, the trembling in her shoulders moving down her arms and legs, "you... you!"

"I... Asuka, I'm sorry," he said, for once genuinely meaning it as something other than a conversational crutch. "I'm sor—_GerruuHK!_"

Before he could react, before he could think, Shinji found himself up against the lockers, the soles of his feet dangling an inch off the floor, with Asuka Langley Soryu's fingers wrapped around his neck.

* * *

In the vast, barren office, the two commanders sat hunched over a Go board.

"Ikari?"

The clean-shaven man murmured his acknowledgement of the question but did not look up from the pieces in play.

Fuyutsuki, sensing he had already lost, made a nonsensical move. Against someone like Gendo Ikari, who always looked for wheels within wheels, it occasionally proved an effective tactic. "About Shinji—"

_"Yes?"_

"I think… no. You _need _to talk with him."

Gendo didn't look up. "That would not be prudent. Shinji pilots. I require nothing more from him."

"He's your son."

"Biologically speaking, that is correct."

"It's not too late for you two to—"

"Reconcile?" Gendo smirked. Here, at last, he looked at him over the frames of his designer glasses. "I'm afraid that train has left the station."

Kozo sighed. "You're both still alive, Gendo."

"Hope isn't enough, old man, despite what Yui might have said." Fuyutsuki's ear twitched at the reference to Yui in the past tense. It still rubbed him wrong, coming from Gendo. "Some wounds don't heal, not even with the passage of time."

"Or death?"

"Or death."

"You could still try."

"That would only cause Shinji more pain. I've done enough of that for two lifetimes already, and the boy will endure far worse before this farce reaches its inevitable climax."

"He's not the only one." Fuyutsuki sipped his drink, letting the cool amber liquid burn its way down his throat. He set his glass back down, covering his mouth with his free hand to hide a yawn. "But Shinji's still your flesh and blood."

"Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki," said the Commander, stressing the use of his title, "I have the situation with Shinji well in hand."

* * *

_"GhhhKKT!" _Asuka Langely Soryu tightened her grip on his neck. Shinji kicked out at her legs, clawed at the hands around his throat, but it was no use. "assss-kkaa!" he hissed through the vice.

"_Du Hurensohn!_" she spat in his face, eyes wild. "_Sie sind besonder nicht!_"

_Oh God not like this. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. I don't want to die. Hikari! Misato! Ritsuko! F-Father! Ayanami! M-M-_

"—mother," he grunted.

Asuka let go.

Shinji collapsed to his knees. His hands ran to protect his neck, where, in a few short hours, a set of nasty and distinctive bruises would form. Eyes red and tear-filled, he gasped in lungful after lungful of sweet oxygen.

He looked up at his attacker.

Towel still – barely – hanging around her midsection, the Second Child looked positively green. Her focus, Shinji noted, was not on him, but rather on herself. "No," she said, staring at her hands. "No no no no no no."

Shinji staggered to his feet but stumbled. Unsteady, he went with crawling away from his attacker. Halfway to the door he heard her call out to him.

"Shinji!" she pleaded.

He hurried faster.

"Shinji!" Closer this time. He felt her touch his shoulder. "_Mein Gott_, Shinji, I'm sorr—"

Shinji wheeled around and threw a blind punch towards Asuka.

It never should have landed.

Asuka, having received extensive physical and combat training during her upbringing at NERV's Second Branch base in Germany, was more than capable of handing someone like Shinji – who had never even been punched before – his skinny ass. But Asuka was distracted, and Shinji was riding a raging adrenaline high, the likes of which he had never had outside of an Angel fight.

The punch never should have landed, but it did.

Asuka crumpled, her nose exploding into a bloody mess.

* * *

"Captain Katsuragi."

"Hyuga, Shigeru," she said, approaching them. "Anything to report?"

"No ma'am," said the long-haired technician, accepting his coffee from a happily humming Maya. "No seismograph anomalies, ground-penetrating radar contacts, or AT-Field signatures."

"Great. Nothing like getting stood up."

"No donuts?" asked Hyuga.

"Mister Kaji ate them all," explained Maya.

* * *

Shinji stared down at the near-naked, bleeding body of the Second Child, her modesty preserved only by the towel haphazardly cast over her. As she wrenched herself off the floor, onto her hands and knees, even that shred of dignity was denied her as the towel fell off her shoulders, exposing her pink-tipped breasts.

Shinji looked away.

"Asuka, I'm s—"

The Second Child leapt at him.

The teens crashed to the hard concrete floor in a tangle of limbs. Shinji, dazed from his head hitting the ground, could not fend off Asuka as she hauled herself up over him, fistful by fistful of his white dress shirt. When the pounding of drums in his head subsided somewhat, he refocused on the world around him – only to be swallowed whole by draped red hair and fierce blue eyes.

_"Third Child," _she hissed, hot blood from her weeping nose dripping down onto his face, "if you say you're sorry _one more time_ I swear to GOD it will be the last thing you EVER say."

* * *

"Fuyutsuki?"

"Yes, Ikari?"

"Why are you humming a lullaby?"

He blinked. "I am?"

"Yes." Gendo Ikari adjusted his glasses. "It's irritating."

* * *

He bucked up, only to find the weight of Asuka on his chest kept him down. His wrists were pinned by her hands. Oddly, his next thought was not of finding a means of escape but of making sure not to stare at her bared breasts. Asuka, he decided, would _murder him_ if she thought he was ogling her.

She continued, this time her voice flat and without inflection. "I am not a coward. You are. You run away from everything, even your asshole father. I never give up. You do." Her fingers loosened their grip on his wrists. Shinji tried to pull them away from her, but, in an instant, Asuka had him captured in her vice again, her nails digging into his flesh. "Stop it!"

"Let me go!"

"NO!"

* * *

"_~No no no no no, No no no no no_

_And a no no no, with a ah ah ah and a hey hey hey_

_why does love have to be this way, tell me mama~_"

Hyuga Makoto sipped his caffeine fix as he watched his friend sing and strum an air guitar like a pro. Once Shigeru Aoba finished his rendition, Hyuga said, "Nice."

"Thanks." He picked up his own coffee mug and gulped some down. He then leaned back in his seat and groaned, "God, I feel like I've been on a bender."

"Tell me about it," said Hyuga, idly drumming his fingertips along the side of his own mug. "The Captain has to stand us down sometime."

"She doesn't have to do anything," said Aoba, smirking without humor. "We have our orders."

"Thanks for reminding me."

"Hey, no problem." Aoba tapped the heel of his uniform boot against the metal floor of the Command Center, working out a half-remembered song at the back of his mind. His stomach grumbled. "Man, I wish Mister Kaji hadn't been such a pig."

"Seriously."

* * *

"What the hell's wrong with you?!" he shouted up at her.

"With _ME?!_"

Despite his fear, Shinji barked a laugh. "I insulted you and then you strangle me and _I'm_ the one that's messed up?"

"I... I..."

* * *

Doctor Ritsuko Akagi flicked her lighter on, then flicked it off, then flicked it on…

"Tempted?" asked Kaji, smiling over his coffee mug.

Off. On. Off. On. Off… "Yes, to be honest. The worst of the headache has passed, but my mind doesn't seem to be working as fast as it used to." She looked away from the flame of her lighter and closed her eyes. Laughing softly, she added, "I've also been eating too much chocolate."

"It's natural to seek comfort," Kaji drained the last dregs of his drink, "to escape from pain."

"Some people like pain, Ryoji."

"Is that a come on, Ritsu?"

"If you think so," she said, tapping the butt of her lighter on the break room's table, "then you don't know me very well."

"That's not an answer."

"I know you better than you know me, Kaji."

He smiled. "Oh? How so?"

"Well, for one," she said offhandedly, fiddling with her lighter, "I know you're Keel's spy."

* * *

"I'm… you… you shouldn't have said those things!"

"I know," he said, staring past her bloody, leaking nose to her cutting blue eyes. "I'm s—"

She glared down at him.

"I… I _apologize_."

Asuka turned her eyes from him. "Disgusting," she muttered.

* * *

It lurked in the back of the minds of thousands of men and women, hiding at the edge of consciousness in the form of a half-remembered tune. To Shinji Ikari, it was a half-remembered cello chord ringing in his blood, one that, if completed and properly accompanied, he might have recognized as the Ode to Joy. To Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki, it was the lullaby hummed in the shade by Yui Ikari to her son that fateful summer day all those years ago. To each person who felt it inside themselves, the tune dredged up memories of dreams lost and of the death of hope – it was a song of pain, the very song of the Lilium themselves.

It materialized in the physical world the form of fingers drumming, shoes tapping, knees bouncing, humming and whistling. It was a song unlike any other, played out by a band scattered across NERV headquarters.

The thing about songs, though, is that all of them must end.

* * *

Maya leaned against the command console and closed her eyes.

"Maya?"

She groaned.

"Are you alright?" asked the Captain.

"I… I'm sorry, ma'am. I feel—"

* * *

"—free to tell me _why_ you insist on humming when I've asked you to stop," said Gendo Ikari. He narrowed his eyes a fraction. "Twice."

"Ikari," he said, rubbing his forehead as a terrific headache bloomed inside his skull, "I wasn't humming."

"Yes, you were."

"I think I'd remember—"

* * *

"—that story about the girl with the two umbrellas?" Aoba typed in a root command, then glanced back at his coworker when no response came. "Hyuga? Hey! Wake up! Man, don't—"

* * *

"—tell me," said Ritsuko, blinking wildly as she fought to keep her eyes open, "did you ever once consider what your death will do to Misato? Because Ikari _will_ kill you once he's used you up."

Kaji wanted to stand up, to yell, but he could not. He legs were dead weight, and he could not raise his voice to full strength. "D-don't lecture me right and wrong."

"Damn it, Kaji... why... why don't you—" But she never finished her thought, instead punctuating her sentence with the smack of her head on the desk. Ritsuko Akagi did not move.

Across from her, Ryoji Kaji slumped back in his seat, unconscious.

* * *

"WAKE UP!" Gendo shook his subordinate by the collar of his beige uniform jacket. "DO YOU HEAR ME, OLD MAN?!"

Vice-Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki snored.

"WAKE UP!" He backhanded his friend, but the only result was Kozo's head rolling aside. "Damn it!" Gendo lowered the old man to the floor. He turned to his desk and picked up the phone again. He tried calling both the Infirmary and the Directory, both to no effect. "Damn, damn, damn. What the hell is going on?"

Taking one last look at the dead phone and his unconscious Vice-Commander, Gendo Ikari ran for the door of his office.

* * *

"..."

"Shinji?" Asuka grabbed hold of the boy's shoulders and shook him. "Shinji?! Hey! Wake up!"

The blood-stained, bruised boy spread out beneath her didn't respond.

"Oh _shit_."

* * *

Misato Katsuragi laid face down on the main deck of the Central Dogma.

She was not alone.

All around the Command Center the men and women of NERV's ranks were either slumped over computer consoles or scattered on the metal flooring like so much carelessly scattered grain. No one remained awake to hear the MAGI sounding the First Stage Alert siren, nor did anyone see the prompt that flashed on the main holographic projector:

.

.

**Alert!**

**AT-Field Detected**

**Blood Analysis: BLUE**

**8****th**** Angel CONFIRMED**

.

.

* * *

# # # To Be Continued

**

* * *

**

**Next Chapter:**_ Sandalphon (Part 2)_ –– With the rest of NERV incapacitated, Asuka and Gendo are left to formulate a counterattack. But to defeat Sandalphon, they will have to risk Third Impact itself! Meanwhile, in Terminal Dogma, Unit-00 waits...


	19. Sandalphon: Part 2 of 2

_Special thanks to _blueinkedlines _for pre-reading this chapter._

_Special thanks to _Murazor _from Spacebattle dot com for the new fic synopsis.  
_

* * *

These are the odds.

In Japan, after the Second Impact, the odds of dying in a lightning strike are one person in every 85,560.

The odds of dying in an air travel accident: one in 38,000.

The odds of dying in a fire: one in 1,344.

The odds of you dying by falling down: one in 267.

This fact is pertinent: 102,563 souls lived and worked in Tokyo-3 at the start of Sandalphon's attack. Within thirty minutes, the number was reduced to 101,228.

Of these 1,335 fatalities, the causes of death varied, but can primarily be summarized in the following categories.

946 souls perished in complications involving uncontrolled falls: striking their head on a hard edge, tumbling down a staircase or escalator, and sometimes just landing badly.

115 perished in motor vehicle accidents.

88 died in fires resulting from: smoking in bed, vehicle crashes, and cooking food left unattended.

37 drowned: slipping under the waters of a bath, falling into the pinkish water of the Eva Cage coolant, and, in one particularly ignominious case, drowning face-down in a bowl of bird's nest soup.

19 were lost in the crash of two patrol VTOLs.

Three died on the operating table when their doctors, attending physicians and nurses all fell asleep on the job.

One passed away peacefully in their "sleep" from natural conditions.

One impaled herself eye socket-first on a ballpoint pen.

One died from an unfortunate case of autoerotic asphyxiation.

Overall casualties were limited due to Sandalphon attacking NERV and Tokyo-3 during the middle of the night. Those affected were primarily limited to NERV employees, although significant deaths were also observed in 24-hour industries such as emergency medicine, law enforcement, and the shipping and service industries.

But this is not their story...

* * *

# # # presenting # # #

**

* * *

TAKING SIGHTS**

**Chapter 14 – Sandalphon (Part 2 of 2)**

**Written by: Lavanya Six**

**(please don't sue)**

* * *

# # # another installment in a continuing series # # #

* * *

Gendo Ikari ran.

Every corridor he went down, on every level, bodies littered the floor. There was no sign of violence and little blood, save for people who seemed to have cracked their heads on something when they fell down, because that was the only way he could bring himself to describe this insane scenario.

Everyone had simply... stopped.

Except for him.

His cellular phone calls, dialed during the brief respites in elevators as he spiraled downwards into the Central Dogma complex, reached no one. His pages to the Command Center likewise went unanswered. So with the First Stage Alert pounding in his ears, Commander Gendo Ikari raced to the pilot locker rooms. Because whatever was happening, however Sandalphon accomplished this insanity, unless there were pilots for the Evangelion then it was Over.

So Gendo ran, and as he ran he planned.

_Find the Children_, he thought to himself, bounding over a woman crumpled on the floor. _Wake them up if they're asleep too. Damn. I'll need a way to wake them up. How? Use science. Experiment on other, non-vital NERV employees until a successful revival method is discovered. Can't risk the pilots. Have to— _

Gendo rounded the last corner, dashed into the boy's locker room...

...and ran straight into a naked and bloody Asuka Langley Soryu.

* * *

Asuka donned her dirty Plug Suit, hoping he did not notice her trembling fingers. She took in deep, slow, calming breaths, but she did so through her mouth. Her nose still ached and bled from Shinji's punch. It occurred to Asuka it might be broken.

The commander, meanwhile, busied himself with his son.

"You have likely given him a concussion," he said, stuffing her discarded towel under Shinji's head. The commander did not bother cleaning the congealing blood from his son's face. "In any case, it doesn't matter. We need to get you into an Eva."

She sealed her suit with a low hiss of air. "But Shin—"

"Now." The commander grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her along. When she wrenched herself free of his grip, he added, "The Angels come first."

"...yes, sir."

* * *

Gendo took the moment of calm afforded by the express elevator up to the Cage to remotely page the entire NERV complex. Every employee down to the lowliest cook or janitor had been trained to report via the nearest telephone or computer station. However, his PDA, which tied into the MAGI's switchboard, registered no replies.

"How did the Angel make everyone fall asleep?"

Gendo pulled up the camera controls for the Cage. "I don't know."

The girl paused. "They are _asleep_, right? They're still breathing and everything?"

"From what limited evidence I've gathered," he replied as he shut down the cameras in the Eva Cage, then fed a loop of footage until he could doctor something more convincing, "yes to both questions."

"Then why don't they wake up?"

"I don't know."

"And why am I still awake? Why are _you_, for that matter?"

"I don't know." He ran a dummy program to cover his electronic tracks._ No need for Keel or his lapdogs to ask difficult questions._

"Well, what DO you know?"

He leveled the irritated child with a fierce glare. "That whatever the Angel is doing, you're going to do you job and kill it."

"No shit."

Gendo forced himself to not crush her for such impertinence. Though he would freely admit to not being an expert when it came to handling children, he was fairly sure it would not do to make a mentally unbalanced girl feel unvalued before a combat situation. Besides, once this Angel was defeated, he could replace her with a Dummy Plug within two months.

"Why are you smirking?"

The elevator arrived.

* * *

"LCL Füllung. Anfang der Bewegung. Anfang des Nervenanschlusses. Auslöses von Links-kleidung. Synchro-start!"

Nothing happened.

"Was?" She repeated the initialization commands. When they still refused to work, she brought up a diagnostic program. After a few seconds, it reported that all systems were okay.

_"Pilot Soryu," _the Commander broke in over the radio line, _"stop dawdling and begin the start-up sequence."_

"I'm trying!" She started manually running over the check list for Unit-02's systems. The result made no sense. "It's not working. Everything's reading as green. My neural connections are active. It's just not w—"

Asuka squinted at the holographic window projected over the metallic walls of her plug's HUD.

_"What is it?"_

"I've crossed the Absolute Borderline."

_"Excellent. Proceed to Rou—"_

"No," she interrupted. "The _computer_ says I've crossed it but I don't feel anything. I'm not receiving any sensory data from my Eva."

_"Explain."_

"My Entry Plug should be showing the Cage. Instead it's just bare metal. I should feel the Eva. I don't."

_"..."_

"Commander?"

_"You can't sense _anything_ from your Eva__.__"_

"No. Nothing. I don't even have that tingle in my spine from the weight of the Entry Plug. I've always felt that, from the first day of synch training." She flexed her right hand, commanding Unit-02 to follow suit. It did not -- not that she had expected it to, not when she couldn't feel the little marionette strings that she always tugged on to move her Eva. "It's almost like—"

Asuka intended to say "it's broken", but the Commander presented a far more chilling option.

_"—it's asleep?"_

"What?"

_"Disengage and come out," _he ordered. _"I've just consulted the MAGI. The Angel isn't moving. It's safe to leave your Eva for the moment."_

"Hold on just a minute! How can an _Eva_ be asleep? It's just a big toy!"

_"An Evangelion is still a biological construct. Cyberized, yes, but it possesses the rudimentary systems of a natural being."_

"But what about Unit-02?"

_"It's not working, and until we learn more about the Angel, I don't believe we'll find a solution. We need a proper MAGI interface, and those are only in the Command Center. I may require the assistance of a second pair of hands. Now disengage your Entry Plug."_

* * *

"Too damn cold," she shivered, hugging the soaked towel closer to her body. "By the way, thanks _so_ much for helping me when I was vomiting up LCL."

Commander Ikari, walking several steps ahead of Asuka, did not even deign to look back at her. "I wasn't aware that you required someone to hold your hair for you. I would hope you were used to sticking fingers down your throat by now, Pilot Soryu."

"I don't think that came out the way you meant it."

"That is possible."

_Asshole_.

"Well, it's one thing to evacuate LCL from your lungs," she said, using care to explore the tender lump affixed to the center of her face. "It's an entirely other thing to do it with a broken nose."

"And how precisely did you break your nose, Pilot Soryu? I didn't figure you to be clumsy, considering all the agility training NERV invested in you."

"I — I, er, well—"

"Yes. I thought as much."

They walked on in silence.

Asuka's gaze lingered on the collapsed figures littering the hallway. Looking at the ones with limbs bent at odd angles, the teen was again reminded of the image of puppets cut from their master's strings. "Goddamn creepy," she said, shivering again. "Like a zombie movie." She wiped a trickle of blood from her lip. "Well, at least they aren't trying to eat our brains."

Commander Ikari froze mid-step. He looked over his shoulder at her.

"What?" she said. "You don't honestly—"

He turned abruptly and brushed past her. "There is a weapons locker one level down," he said, pulling a pistol from inside his uniform jacket. "Follow me."

* * *

Gendo handed the Second Child two guns, each with its own holster. One sat lopsided on the girl's waist -- barely, considering her small size -- and the other was a shoulder harness that he helped her slip into. "You haven't practiced since Germany, correct?"

"I practice all the time."

"Eva simulators don't count."

She snorted. "Yeah, well—"

He opened her right hand and placed a 9mm in her palm. "If we're separated, go directly to my office. Gunfire in it will trigger a security lockdown. Nothing short of an N2 will touch you in there once the safeguards have activated." _Not unless the Angel can get its puppets to think out their attacks, in which case we're both dead. _"Don't bother standing and fighting. Just run. Understood?"

"Yeah."

He stared down at her.

"Yes,_ sir_."

"If you must shoot, don't try anything fancy." Gendo turned to the weapons locker, studied its contents, then drew a compact assault rifle and three clips. He slung the rifle over his shoulder. "Do_ NOT _shoot to wound. Kill your enemy, Pilot Soryu. Two rounds to the center of mass will drop most targets."

The teenage redhead raised her eyebrows and held out the gun in her hand as if it were a dirty diaper. "A nine millimeter can't stop shit, _sir_."

Gendo pocketed a grenade and then shut the locker. "Don't be melodramatic, Pilot. You are too old and too young for it."

"Anyways, if they're zombies, you gotta shoot 'em in the head. It's the only way to kill 'em."

"Headshots are difficult, Pilot."

"Maybe for the average person, sir."

The Second Child fell into step behind him as he led them up to the Command Center. As they passed the odd fallen NERV officer, Gendo kept his own service pistol trained on the slumbering bodies.

"You really think they could attack us?"

Up ahead, the starkness of the hallway was broken by a young woman in an orange Technical Division jumpsuit. She laid facedown on the floor, surrounded by a small, shallow pool of blood. _Broken nose? _"The Angel invaded their minds, shut them down. What's to say it can't induce another basic response aside from sleep?"

"You mean... _hunger__?"_

"Among others."

"Like what? What's more basic than sleeping or eati—_EWW__!"_

"Yes."

They turned a corner, and an entrance to the lowest level of the Command Center came into view.

The Second Child, however, felt the need to open her mouth again. "So if it attacked their minds and the Eva's mind, why didn't it get us? What's so special about us? I mean," she went on, in that disbelieving tone only the very young and very stupid can produce with complete sincerity, "it's not like we have anything in common!"

For that question, Gendo did not have an answer.

* * *

Thankfully, Asuka encountered no ravenous zombies during their trek to the Central Dogma. As soon as they arrived, Commander Ikari busied himself with one of the MAGI computer consoles. Asuka could not recall the name of the long-haired man he dumped out of the chair at the station, but he seemed vaguely familiar. To kill time, she readied her pitiful nine millimeter and patrolled the room.

"Damn," the commander cursed softly. "If the MAGI are correct, everyone within an eight-point-seven kilometer radius of the downtown has been affected topside. The Angel appears to be projecting an AT-Field with no discernable radiation, frequency, or wavelength straight up from its present location."

"You found it?"

"Yes."

She crossed the room to stand behind him. "Where?"

"There." He indicated a red dot onscreen. It surprised Asuka with how far it appeared beneath Tokyo-3 and the Geo-Front. "The Angel is directly below us at a depth of approximately fifteen kilometers. The MAGI only detected the Angel once it fully deployed its AT-Field. Otherwise it appeared as mere background static."

"Huh. So, how long 'til it comes knocking?"

"It's not."

"What?"

"The Angel is stationary."

"Damn!" Asuka exclaimed. She looked to him with an expectant -- if grim -- smile. "It's not going to move, is it? It doesn't have to."

"That is one possibility. Another is that the Angel will move in five minutes. We simply don't know."

"But it can wait weeks and weeks if it wants to." She jabbed a trim fingernail at the offending red dot on the holo-screen. "It's going to kill everyone without firing a single shot. The Angel might as well be in orbit. We can't touch the little bastard!"

Commander Ikari glanced at her and, after a moment, nodded in what Asuka interpreted as approval. "We never did figure out how to combat psychic attacks. It has always been the one true weak point in the Evangelions – directly attacking the pilot's mind."

Asuka glanced around the Command Center. "Well, better them than me." She turned back to Commander Ikari. "So what d—what?" He stared at her, an inscrutable look in his orange-shaded eyes. "What is it?" After a moment of thought, she added, "Sir?"

"Just marveling at your instinct for self-preservation," he replied.

Asuka bit her top lip. The tug on her skin riffled her nose, sending a sore shiver into her skull. "It's true," she insisted. "Better one Eva pilot than none, and better me than Shinji or Ro—_Rei_."

"Having _any _pilots is worthless without Evangelions for them to ride, regardless of whether we can lure the Eighth Angel into range."

"So what the hell do we do? Call for help?"

"No. One of the VTOLs flew into the zone of sedation approximately eight minutes after the initial attack. It's likely anyone we call for assistance will be likewise affected."

"But shouldn't we, I dunno, tell someone?"

"In all likelihood, the JSSDF and the UN will... overreact... if they become aware of NERV's defeat."

"And by 'overreact' you mean...?"

"Nothing helpful."

"Ah."

The commander adjusted his glasses. "We have two problems. First, we need a means by which to attract the Eighth Angel into range of an Eva. Second, we need an Eva to kill the Eight Angel."

"Well," she said, "Unit-02's down unless we can figure out a way to wake it up. Rei's somewhere in Terminal Dogma; at least her locator beacon was before it disappeared. I might be able to board her Eva _if _she crashed it when everyone went night-night and _if_ she crashed it so that the Entry Plug is accessible." She heaved a disgusted sigh. "I guess that means I'll have to try _Shinji's _lousy Eva."

"No."

She blinked. "Huh?"

"I said 'no'."

"Why not?"

"Unit-01 is... different."

"...and that means?"

"You are familiar with its moniker, the Oni System?"

"Yeah. It's, what, like zero-point-zero-zero-zero-whatever percent unlikely to ever synch with anyone. Which is funny, considering that didn't stop it from working for either Shinji _or _Rei."

"It won't work for you."

"Why not?"

"It just won't."

She threw her hands up. "GREAT! Then I guess we'll just have to go mountaineering in Terminal Dogma! Well, I suck at free climbing so you better be able to pilot a VTOL down the Main Shaft so I can jump Unit-00." She paused. "Okay, that sentence came out _waaaay _more phallic than I planned."

"Yes." The Commander rubbed his forehead. Asuka waited for him to see that she was right. After a long moment, he conceded, "We can check your compatibility with a low-level synch. If nothing impedes the neural link, we can proceed with a full synch."

"Great. And if that doesn't work?"

"Airlift Unit-03 in from the US and drop it into the city. You board it, synch, and ride down to Terminal Dogma. Of course, that assumes they don't overreact. _And_ that they can jury-rig a working synchronization within twenty-four hours." He answered her disbelief with, "I can do many things, Pilot Soryu, but piloting a VTOL is not one of them."

"Right. What about our bait?"

"Unless we have an Eva, we shouldn't incite the Angel into making a direct attack. We'll test Unit-01 first. Before we do that, we need to see if we can wake our coworkers."

* * *

"Charging." After a moment, he announced, "Clear."

The technician, a woman named Aki with short-crapped black hair, jerked as electricity poured into her body. She did not wake.

"No effect." _Damn. _He looked over the nine junior officers laid out on the floor of the main command deck; he had tested alternative treatments on each. None had woken. Fortunately for the Second Child's already shaky state of mind, none of the test subject had yet died.

Gendo cursed himself for taking such a risk with the fight against the Angels. He should send the Second Child away. With her watching on, he could not push the test subjects' bodies hard enough.

"Look," said the child, "as funny as it is to watch you randomly inject drugs into people's hearts, you have to admit this going nowhere fast."

"Then, Pilot Soryu, go down to the Cage and board Unit-01. Evas _can_ be independently activated by their pilots."

"And leave myself to the horny zombie horde? Hell no."

"Pilot Soryu," he said, pouring on as much steel into his voice as his grammar and syntax could bear without collapsing like a flan under its weight, "this is a direct order from your Commander."

"Fine_,_" she said, hefting her nine millimeter. "_S__ir._"

* * *

"LCL Füllung. Anfang der—was?" Asuka looked around the non-reactive Entry Plug. "LCL Füllung."

No response.

"LCL Füllung!" she repeated, bringing up a diagnostic program. It ran but revealed nothing wrong with the Unit's systems. "Shiest! Not this one too!"

Commander Ikari radioed, _"There's no German language program to load. You'll need to use Japanese."_

"Why the hell not?"

_"Because, Pilot Soryu, the Third Child does not speak German."_

"_I_ do. Upload the language to the Eva."

_"I am not Doctor Akagi. There isn't time to fiddle with programming. We work with what we have, pilot."_

"Well, if I'm going to risk barbecuing my own brain on a strange Eva, I want to do it in Ger—"

The line cut out.

"Shiest! Bastard. Fine! Set Language Interface to Japanese." Asuka opened her mind to the machine. "Evangelion Unit-01, activate!"

* * *

_This is man's ultimate fighting machine: the synthetic life form known as Evangelion Unit-01. Built here in secret, it is mankind's last hope._

_This is my father's work?_

_Correct. It's been a while._

_Father..._

* * *

_"Ow."_

"Is something the matter, pilot?"

_"N-no. Just thought I felt something for a sec."_

He looked over the MAGI's analysis. Gendo sighed in relief. The girl's vitals were steady, and her brain was, mercifully, left unscrambled by Yui. _Why_ it worked was still a question. "Synchronization steady at—" and here he paused, blinking confusedly at the number presented to him, then chided himself for reading into coincidence, "—41.3 percent. No abnormalities detected. Waveform is nominal."

_"Forget it. Probably just the primitive circuits of this Test Type Eva."_

"Yes." He allowed himself the luxury of a small smile. "That must be it."

_"Well, we have an Eva. Now we just need a way to draw the bastard in."_

"Disengage and prepare to disembark. I'll meet you in the Cage."

_"Again? I have a working Eva and you want me to vomit and walk COLD and WET all the way back upstairs?!"_

"Allow me to clarify – that wasn't a request, pilot."

_"It better be good. Sir."_

* * *

Asuka didn't much care for the Commander's Office. The room was big, empty, and _fucking cold_. Anyone walking in would wonder where all the hanging carcasses and meat hooks were hidden. Yeah, it had a great view, but so what? It was the middle of the night, rendering the large windows that wrapped around the room into sheets of black stone. The whole place felt as if it were a vault deep beneath the surface of the ocean or a prison adrift in deep space beyond even the reach of the stars.

And the comatose body of Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki did not lighten the atmosphere.

"So what's the bait and why's it in your office?"

"All you are required to know is that I am quite certain this item will attract the Angel." Commander Ikari rolled Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki over onto his back, and then started patting the sleeping man down.

Asuka, anxious, looked around, idly searching for a potted plant or other sign of life. Her eyes drifted to the nonsensical inscription on the floor. At first, it seemed random, and she struggled to assemble what she saw into a pattern. Piece by piece, the lines and circles and odd script clicked together in her mind to form...

_Holyshit._

"Is something the matter, pilot?"

Asuka surveyed the broad, bare expanse of the floor. "You have a Sephirot carved into your floor."

The commander, on his knees, raised an eyebrow. "Yes."

"My m—_I_ used to have a picture of one on my wall back in Germany. Why do you have it on your floor?"

He stared back at her for a moment, before returning to the business of rifling through the vice-commander's pockets. When that search revealed nothing of use, he ripped open the old man's uniform jacket and patted him down.

"You put your desk at the _Keter_. Don't you think that's a little arrogant?"

"Don't you think you're being a little glib," the commander paused to tear apart Fuyutsuki's undershirt, "considering you just tried to strangle my son?"

Asuka shut up.

The vice-commander's bared chest revealed nothing that Asuka wanted to look at. Although, she noted with bemusement, she hadn't expected the greenish hammer and sickle tattooed over his heart.

Commander Ikari stared down at the half-naked old man sleeping on the floor.

"Fuyutsuki," he muttered, "I know you'd have it on you. Where is it?"

"Wh—"

The Commander looked up at her sharply.

"W-what about his shoes?"

Shinji Ikari, she decided, even when the little shit showed some spine, didn't hold a candle to his father. No one should be able to express so much doubt, annoyance, loathing, and amusement with just their eyes. She hoped she would never have to look at the man with his glasses off.

"His shoes."

"Right." She forced herself to nod. "People hide things in their shoes all the time. You carry them everywhere you go, right? And nobody ever thinks to check them 'cause they're shoes."

"I believe you are confusing the vice-commander with a teenage girl."

"Look, just checking his effing shoes!" She almost flinched beneath his icy gaze but forced herself to stand her ground. "Sir."

Despite his constant dismissal of her, he did. The inside of the vice-commander's left dress shoe revealed a false bottom. Underneath the sole was a small silver key. "Paranoid old fool," he said rudely, though Asuka wondered if there was a note of approval carried in his tone. The commander stood up and handed her the lukewarm key he had retrieved from the shoe. Asuka made a mental note to wash her hands. "The keyhole is over there. Wait one moment."

Asuka went where she had been directed. Commander Ikari, meanwhile, set his metal briefcase atop the desk before walking to a position opposite her.

"We turn our keys on three."

"One, two, three, go?" She asked. "Or one, two, three?"

"The latter." He placed his key in its hole. "On three."

She nodded.

"One... two... _three_."

She turned her key. He turned his key.

A soft _clank_ emanated from inside the commander's desk. Announced by the hiss of refrigerated air, a panel on the side of the desk popped out. The commander took hold of the opening and pulled out the hidden drawer further. Asuka noted the biohazard symbol embossed on its side.

The commander lifted a translucent block from the drawer and set it down into the suitcase.

"What the fuck?! Is that an aborted fetus?"

The commander said nothing, instead focusing on the environmental controls in the briefcase's interior.

"Are you going to tell me what's so important about that thing?"

"No," replied the commander, sealing the armored briefcase. "It will help us achieve our goal. That's all you need to know."

"Is it an Angel?"

Commander Ikari picked up the suitcase with one hand and adjusted his glasses with the other. "Now back to Unit-01."

Asuka grunted. The irritated sound was somewhat muted by her swollen nose. "Shinji's Eva and an aborted fetus – clearly this is the best plan ever."

* * *

_Shinji, the pilot of Eva Unit-03... the Fourth Child is..._

_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!_

* * *

"Status?"

_"It smells like Shinji in here,"_ she said, her grimace evident in her tone. _"Weird."_

Gendo's hands moved over the computer controls. While the Evas themselves could initialize and operate autonomously, the gear-works of NERV headquarters could not. "The most likely explanation is that you brain is interpreting the latent impression the Third Child has made on Unit-01's neural pathways."

_"So I'm smelling Shinji _personality_?"_

"Your supposition is apt, though not entirely accurate." His console chimed as the magnetic locks for the Seventh Cage disengaged. "Since the human brain isn't capable of truly processing the input of the Eva on a one-to-one level, it expresses the stimulus through the sensory organ most closely tied to memory."

_"Smell."_

"Correct."

_"I'm smelling his personality."_

"Correct."

_"Wild,"_ said the girl. _"So that explains the _Eau de Shinji_, but what about the other scent, of my—"_

Gendo typed in a final command. The MAGI confirmed its authenticity then executed the order. "Unit-01," he said, "the Main Shaft is now opening. Proceed on route. Try to minimize collateral damage to NERV infrastructure and personnel."

The Second Child's response was, mercifully, brief. _"Roger._"

* * *

Asuka muted her radio. Under her breath, she added, "I'll try not to kill anyone this time."

A camera-feed popped up on Asuka's HUD, revealing an irritated Commander Ikari. _"__Unit-01, do NOT break radio contact without authorization."_

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry, sir."

The Commander glared at her (again). _"We will proceed as planned, Pilot Soryu. Control out."_

The box on her HUD snapped shut and disappeared.

Asuka snorted. "Hypocrite."

* * *

**Meanwhile, in Tokyo-2:**

"Sir?"

"Yes, lieutenant?"

"We've lost contact with Tokyo-3, sir. They're not responding to any of our calls and our long-range recon units are reporting several fires in their downtown."

"...and?"

"Sir?"

"Those NERV assholes are probably busy throwing those toys of theirs against an Angel. If they haven't come begging on their knees for aid, ignore them. It's not like we can do anything except send good men there to die."

"Yes, sir."

* * *

The elevator descended into Terminal Dogma.

"_So,_"chattered the Second Child over his handheld radio, _"just why did you shave your beard, sir? Inquiring minds want to know."_

Gendo ignored her.

_"Because it _really_pissed off Shinji." _

Gendo ignored her.

_"I mean, I know he hates Rei, but _hooboy_ does bringing up your name get his goat."_

Gendo... scratched his chin.

The elevator arrived in the twilight of Terminal Dogma, in an adjunct chamber just off the main LCL reservoir. The small waiting room closed to a long, narrow hallway that led to the maintenance walkway ringing the reservoir and an access point to Heaven's Door. Behind the unpolished steel of the hallway walls lurked quick-dry Bakelite, the same kind used to restrain rampant Evangelions; a single command from him would flood the hallways with it, closing off access to this level and blockading the elevator shaft.

"I've reached my destination," he radioed, pacing down the hallway. "Status?"

_"I'm passing Marker Twen—what the—?"_

"Pilot Soryu?"

_"I'm receiving telemetry on Unit-00. It's near the mouth of the Main Shaft and it's _moving._"_

Gendo froze. "Has the First Child contacted you?"

_"No. And she's not responding to my hails."_

Gendo hovered over his radio unit, then instructed, "Proceed with caution, Soryu. Until contact can be established with Rei, you are to consider Unit-00 hostile."

_"You think the Angel took it over?"_

"Including backups and tertiary systems, Unit-00 has eighteen different ways to make contact with NERV and other Evangelions. Unless something has gone very wrong, Rei would speak with us."

_"Maybe she thinks _I've _been taken over."_

"That is a possibility. Nevertheless—"

_"Right_."

Briefcase in hand, Gendo strode down the rest of the hallway and out to the exterior walkway. His eyes immediately fell upon the scene to his left: the reservoir of Main LCL Production Plant—a fancy name for the depression into which NERV bled out Lilith. The surface of the thin, orange liquid extended outwards to the horizon nearly a kilometer and a half away.

Overhead, in the center of the circular lake, a simple hole had been cut into the huge chamber's metal enclosure. Between the layers of thick armor stacked in it and the automated anti-aircraft guns on the battleship waiting below it in the LCL reservoir, the Main Shaft, the only access point for Evangelions or heavy equipment into Terminal Dogma, was protected from invasion by any human force.

The surface of the LCL itself was motionless and perfectly composed.

Of Unit-00, there was no trace.

* * *

"And I'm telling _you _that it has to be there: ground-floor Terminal Dogma. My scanners are positive. There's no error to be found."

_"Pilot Soryu_,_" _the commander breathed in that 'foolish mortal, mwah ha ha ha' voice he was so found of using. _"Unit-00 is _not_ here."_

Unit-01, with one hand wrapped around the linear transport cable and the other defensively wielding a pallet rifle, lowered through the mouth of the Main Shaft and into the dim light of Terminal Dogma's LCL Production Plant.

What Asuka saw next startled her.

"It vanished!"

_"No, Pilot Soryu. It was never there. But then again, why not? After everything else today, vanishing sounds perfectly reas—"_

"No! It's vanished off my scanners."

_"What?"_

"Unit-00." Asuka squinted as she swept her eyes over undulating, frothy waters of the LCL reserve, all the while cursing Shinji's Eva pathetic _two_ eyes. "Its transponder is offline and its AT-Field is _still _showing up as non-localized. I can't pin it down." She paused. "Hold on, let me try tracking its power cable." Through her link with the MAGI, Asuka brought up a diagnostic display for Terminal Dogma's power system. Due to the special circumstances of the 8th Angel's nature, Misato has granted her temporary computer access to the Darkest Africa of NERV. "I might be able to find i—"

"—who are you—"

* * *

Gendo exhaled at the sound of Rei's voice. Despite his doubts, it was reassuring to hear his daughter speak.

"_Rei?_"

"—that is not my name—"

"_Rei, where are you?_"

"—**I am** **I**—" thundered Rei."—who are you?—"

The alien inflection in Rei's voice, no longer devoid of emotion, caused Gendo's heart to seize up as he imagined _Yui_ talking yet he knew this not to be the case. His wife's essence was trapped within Unit-01; this was Unit-00, which meant...

"No," he breathed. "I killed her."

* * *

Rei Ayanami did not dream.

In fact, due to a startling oversight in her education, the very concept of dreaming was a complete unknown to her. As she slept her mind simply blanked out and the biological mechanisms of sleep carried on replenishing brain chemicals and snipping unnecessary clutter of the neural pathways.

The song of Sandalphon, rather than usher the First Child in the realm of her deepest and most cherished memory, the time in her life she most wished to revisit for good or ill, instead simply turned her conscious mind off. As Commander Ikari's decidedly unethical experimentations had proven, this was not the same thing as sleep.

There was a darkness in Rei Ayanami that no one, not even she herself, knew existed there. In her waking life the darkness was quiet, lost in the blind spot of consciousness, but it was always there.

It was real.

It was patient.

And now—at long last—it was free.

* * *

"This isn't funny, Rei." Asuka shivered as the familiar rush of battlefield adrenaline flooded her bloodstream. Her fingers teased the trigger of her pallet rifle, certain it would soon be put to use. "Stop kidding around."

This time, there came no reply.

She glanced at the sensor reports on her HUD. "Damn! Rei's not showing up but the AT-Field is still here."

_"Asuka,"_ said the Commander, voice quiet, _"listen to me very carefully. What do your radio logs show as Rei's last transmission?"_

"What? It says... no. Wait." Asuka checked the text log twice, then brought up the playback. "It doesn't show anything. There's no log of Rei talking. But the computer shows _us _talking!"

_"That's because she wasn't talking over the radio."_

"Huh?" But before Asuka could ask for clarification, the results of her request of the MAGI to analyze Terminal Dogma's power system came back. "Wait. The MAGI say her power cable is still online and she's using one nearby."

"—shadow of lilith, answer me. this is you last chance—"

_"Pilot Soryu, Unit-00 is to be considered an enemy. Destroy it if necessary!"_

"What the hell are you going on about?" She demanded of no one in particular. Asuka swept her eyes around the waters of Terminal Dogma. There was no trace of any Angel or Evangelion. "Goddamn it, Rei, where are you?!"

"—**so be it**—"

A hundred of so meters to Unit-01's northeast, out of nowhere at all (really), Unit-00 suddenly appeared.

"You're fucking _invisible?!" _Asuka screamed, unloading a burst of wild gunfire into Unit-00's torso. She barely had time to notice the orange-hued flash of an AT-Field before Unit-00 sprang forward and mauled her, smashing the pallet rifle out of her hands and then grabbing at her neck. Asuka strained to escape but Rei was relentless, holding Unit-01 in place even as its legs slipped up from underneath it.

"—WHO ARE YOU, SHADE?—"

Despite the sympathetic pain coursing through her, Asuka giggled wickedly. Here she was, in Unit-01, Shinji's Eva, being strangled just hours after trying to choke some manners into the Third Child. It was just too fucking perfect.

"M-mama."

Rei tightened her death grip on the Eva's throat. "—you are NO son of the Father! who are you?! WHAT ARE YOU?!—"

Asuka snorted. "Worth a shot. Ah well."

A small display window popped up on her HUD. It read:

**PROGRESSIVE KNIFE ENGAGED**

* * *

From a far distance, Gendo Ikari watched in mute horror as Unit-00 revealed itself and attacked Unit-01. Against the roar and crash of the LCL around the two titans, he could hear the purple Eva's titanium armor begin to strain and crack.

"—answer me, shade! abomination of my flesh!—"

"Pilot Soryu, report!"

There was no reply.

"Pilot Soryu, **report!**"

_"SHUT UP!" _She screamed back over the radio, her voice crackling over the upper-range of the handheld's speakers. _"I'M WORKING!"_

* * *

Asuka pushed away the pain in her throat and the chattering on the radio to review the situation at hand:

**ENEMY — UNIT ZERO:**

1. First Generation Evangelion prototype with patchwork electrical systems.

2. Piloted by a burgeoning sociopath with a pigmentation disorder.

3. Armor recently upgraded to combat-grade quality.

4. Limited compatibility with most specialized equipment, including the Neo-Path air transports.

5. Sensors inferior to the type featured in Test and Production Models Evangelions.

6. Lower overall weight allows for greater speed and agility in combat.

7. Armed with Mk. I progressive knives (2x).

.

**SELF — AVAILABLE WEAPONS:**

1. Mk. I prog knife (2x)

2. (Useless) pistol with twelve depleted-uranium rounds (1x)

3. Pallet Rifle lost in the goddamn LCL sea (1x)

4. AT-Field

5. Her own innate superiority over a lackluster third place albino _bitch_.

Then Asuka remembered what Misato had told her about boys that got fresh: _"Guys will always protect their crotch," _she had said sagely when she gave her The Talk._ "Go for the eyes instead. They'll never—"_

Commander Ikari **shouted** orders over the radio, _"Pilot Soryu, report!"_

"SHUT UP!"

Asuka pulled the prog knife up, out of Unit-01's shoulder sheath, twirled it around in her Eva's fingers, and stabbed it downward into Unit-00's single, encased, red tinted eye-mount. The blade didn't shatter the crimson orb but it did hum its way happily deep into the blue Eva's skull, the tip just jutting out of the bottom of Unit-00's molded jaw.

"I'M WORKING!"

Unit-00 released her.

Asuka wrenched the knife's handle downwards, cracking the blue Eva's face in two with the vibrating blade. Red blood under high pressure spurted out, soaking Unit-01's face and chestplate. Asuka's vision was, thankfully, not completely obscured.

Beneath the both of them, the orange waters turned red.

The enemy Eva's hands groped blindly in rage. Asuka darted past them, going around to the blue Eva's rear for its power cable. Unit-00, disoriented from its mauling, made an unintentional escape as it stumbled down into the LCL reserve in agony. As Asuka repositioned herself, the other Eva kicked back like a mule, blindly lashing out at Unit-01's legs. Asuka _barely_ jerked her Evangelion Unit out of the way in time.

"—BLASPHEMY!—"

Asuka drew the pistol from her Eva's right shoulder pauldron and fired three rounds into the fallen blue Eva's back. The first and last depleted uranium shells drove dully into Unit-00's armor plating. The second, however, struck home at the base of the umbilical power cable, exploding it in a righteous rush of smoke and twisted metal.

The blue Evangelion rolled onto its back, then sprang forward with an alien grace. Asuka, unfamiliar with piloting an Eva Unit that lacked her Unit-02's agility, could not dart out of the way into time. She was caught by Unit-00's tackle.

The two Evangelions tumbled into the shallow lake.

Asuka felt the fist smash into her face even before she realized she was on her back, Unit-01 half-submerged in LCL. Towering over her, the bloody ruined face of Unit-00 stared down, its single, cracked red eye gleaming with an otherworldly fury. Unit-00 pinned Asuka to the ground; her chest refused to believe that the crushing pain it felt was merely sympathetic. She couldn't breathe.

The enemy Evangelion drew its left fist back for another blow. Reflexively, Asuka triggered explosive spikes loaded onboard on her right shoulder pauldron—only to realize after a too-long second of confusion and then horror that Unit-01 carried no such armament.

The fist came down.

Asuka vision blurred from the pain. Had she been cognizant of her steadily increasing synch ratio, she might have found some small comfort in what her mounting pain represented. But ignorant of such things and focused on the battle, she simply _fought. _Hazily, in some animal portion of her brain, she made a split-second notation of how Unit-00's right arm—indeed, the entire right side of its body—hung a tad limply. When Unit-00 brought its left fist back again, Asuka was ready.

"—shade! abomination! old hag!—"

As the blue Evangelion swung downwards, Asuka reached up with one hand and grabbed hold of Unit-00's forearm.

She pulled.

Asuka used Unit-00's fall to drive her free hand into the crevice she had carved into the blue Evangelion's face. Her fingers barely fit into the cut in Unit-00's armored face, and the length of her/Unit-01's hand was stripped of its own armoring as it scrapped in. The sensation in her hand was akin to it being skinned without anesthetic. Yet between her own made desperation and the pull of gravity on the blue Evangelion, Asuka managed to force her whole hand inside the hot, bloody wound.

"ARSCHGESICHT!"

Asuka made a fist_._

She pulverized the scoop of meat and electrical wiring and bone and teeth in her hand, reducing it to a chunky red paste. The motion of her hand deformed everything around it, and as such the contents of Unit-00's skull caved in around Asuka/Unit-01's fist. The edge of Asuka's fingers had ruptured the delicate braincase of the beast and cerebrospinal fluid joined the gore raining out from the gapping crack running down Unit-00's face.

The two giants stood perfectly still.

Unit-00 moaned.

Asuka wrenched her fist back.

Later, she would compare it to pulling one's hand back out of a bear trap. For now she ignored her own suffering and concentrated on inflicting as much as possible on her enemy.

The blue Evangelion's face exploded in a splash of broken metal and ruddy gore. She threw off the Eva, sprang to her feet, and backed away; ready for Unit-00's counterattack.

It never came.

Instead, Asuka saw the blood-stained Evangelion stumble to its feet only to stand in place dumbly. Her eyes widened slightly at the sight of the horror she had inflicted on her erstwhile ally. Unit-00's face was _gone _and of its head perhaps half remained. The red-eyed Cyclops was gone, replaced instead with an irregular monument of pulsing muscle and jagged bone and twisted metal and — _mein Gott _— its brain! Asuka could count the wrinkles on Unit-00's brain as sat there, crowning the wounded giant, exposed to the air.

Pitifully, the blue Evangelion grasped blindly at her. Asuka took a step back. Somehow the crazed Eva sensed her movement and staggered after her. On her HUD, Asuka noted the spike in the AT-Field readings. A moment later she saw a rainbow flicker across Unit-00 as portions of its chest and arms seemed to waver and fade from sight. However, without the constant supply of electrical power, the berserk Evangelion apparently could not sustain its specialized AT-Field.

Asuka decided not to chance it.

She picked up her sunken pallet rifle from the ruddy waters, took aim at Unit-00's brain, and fired.

* * *

Gendo jerked his head up as the awful burst of gunfire resounded through the LCL Production Plant. Magnified by the domed ceiling of the chamber, the echo of the gunfire burst rattled the Commander's teeth.

"NO!"

His plea went unanswered by God. In the distance, he watched the now-decapitated Unit-00 tumble backwards into the shallow waters of the LCL reservoir.

Gendo tore his eyes away from the scene and refocused himself on his PDA handheld, trying desperately to force the MAGI to ascertain the status of Unit-00's pilot.

He wasn't going to lose her. Not again.

The MAGI, however, could not access Unit-00, its entry plug, or the vital signs of the First Child's plug suit.

"Damn it, come on!" Gendo yelled, boiling over in anger and fear. "Work!"

_"Ohshitohfuck,_" the Second Child said, perhaps not realizing—or not caring—her radio was still on._ "I've got its _brains_ all over me."_

Gendo stuffed his PDA into his jacket pocket and picked up his radio. "Soryu," he ordered, "what is the status of Rei's entry plug? Was it damaged? Report!"

Unit-01 actually turned its head towards him. "_I don't know. Shit. Hold on._"

"NOW, Pilot Soryu."

The Second Child turned her Unit back towards the defeated Evangelion. She crept forward slowly, pallet rifle still pointed at the toppled giant. Gendo, clenching his radio with bloodless fingers, waited.

"_I don't see any damage from here. The armored cap is scrap but the spinal column looks like it's mostly intact below the ne—_"

The blue Evangelion issued a deep, rumbling moan.

Unit-01, kicking up tidal waves of LCL, scrambled backward.

NERV's prototype Evangelion lurched into an upright position, headless body swaying erratically as it did so.

Gendo gaped at the rising Eva. "What."

_"You're fucking kidding me."_

Unit-01 opened fire. Rei's Evangelion fell back down. Unit-01 advanced on its fallen foe and kept unloading its pallet magazine.

"STOP!" Gendo screamed into the radio. "WEAPON'S HOLD! WEAPON'S HOLD! THAT'S AN ORDER!"

She stopped. Thank God, she stopped.

Unit-00 did not stop.

Haltingly, body jerking with each tentative movement, it rose again.

_"WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!" _the Second Child demanded.

What he -- and, likely, she -- did not expect was a reply.

At the back of his mind, Gendo heard a faint whisper, "—he won't let me—"

Far off in the distance, he watched as Unit-00 slumped lifelessly into the waters of the LCL reservoir.

It moved no more.

.

.

.

* * *

**TO BE CONCLUDED**

* * *

**Next Chapter: **The final fight against Sandalphon! As Gendo's plan moves into action, Asuka pilots Unit-01 against the 8th Angel in a fight that will rock the Second Child to her core. But amidst the fires of battle, both Gendo Ikari and Asuka Langley Soryu will make discoveries that change everything they know about the world! What did Misato say to Asuka on that plane back to Tokyo-3? How do you kill a living rock? But the greatest revelation of all concerns Commander Ikari, for when he traveled back in time... _he did not come alone_.

Be there for the next chapter of _Taking Sights_:

**Chapter 15: On Leashes of Memory  
**


	20. April Fools Chapter

**PLEASE NOTE: This is not a real chapter. It was an April Fools joke for 4/1/2008. The real, actual, honest-to-God Chapter 15 has now been posted. You can now ignore this "chapter".  
**

* * *

It was nighttime. The world was silent, save for the soft voice of Misato Katsuragi.

"_Alle_ _Kinder, außer einem, erwachsen zu warden_," she began, reciting from the German translation of the children's book resting in her lap. Despite the low lighting in the hospital room, Misato read from the book as much from memory as anything else. "They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this. One day when she was two years old she was playing in a garden, and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her mother. I suppose she must have looked rather delightful, for Mrs. Darling put her hand to her heart and cried, "Oh, why can't you remain like this for ever!" This was all that passed between them on the subject, but henceforth Wendy knew that she must grow up. You always know after you are two. T-t-two is the beginning of t-t-t—"

Misato closed the book and wiped a tear from her eye. "Two is the beginning," she hushed, "of the end."

The captain startled at the quiet opening of the door. In walked Ritsuko Akagi. The blonde's heels clicked on the tiled floor, and Misato strangled the urge to ask her friend to move more quietly. It wasn't like she would wake up Asuka.

"I thought you went home."

"I wanted to stop by," replied Misato. "Besides, Shinji and Rei will be fine by themselves for a few hours."

"I suppose." The doctor turned her head and regarded the slumbering redhead. Asuka's hair, somewhat disheveled, was draped beneath her head like a blanket. The nurses that saw to her hygiene hadn't bothered to put her trademark A-10 clip back on after her first sponge bath. Combined with the peaceful expression she held, Asuka looked more like a child than she had _as_ a child. "I just came from Commander Ikari's room."

From the lack of a follow-up to that remark, Misato assumed there was no news on that front. "It's been five days since Mt. Asama," she said, "and there's been no change in either of them. What the hell did that Angel do to Asuka? And why did it affect the commander? He wasn't even in the same Prefecture as us."

"I have no idea, Misato. I wish I did. I really do." The blonde made to light up a cigarette, but a sharp look from Misato stopped her cold. "In any case," she said, pocketing her lighter, "you should head home."

"I want to read to her."

"You've slept less this week than that one week back in college, Misato, and I doubt you've been having as much fun."

"But—"

"And you have two pilots you _can_ do something for, children who need you."

Misato sighed.

"Tell you what," Ritsuko added, rubbing the dark circles under her own eyes, "you take off until second shift tomorrow and I'll read a few chapters to Asuka, okay? My German is only passable but..."

"Thank you, Ritsu." Misato stood stiffly, spine creaking. Ambling over to her friend, she passed the dog-eared book. "I had just started it." Before she received so much as a nod, Captain Katsuragi walked away. She shut the door behind herself as quietly as possible.

Giving the girl in the hospital bed a wry look, Ritsuko Akagi said, "Someone's biological clock is going tick tick tick, isn't it? Not like you need someone to mother you. Or want anyone to."

Asuka inhaled.

Asuka exhaled.

"Right." Ritsuko tossed herself into the visitor's chair. Fishing a pair of bifocals from her lab coat's pocket with one hand, Ritsuko tuck the copy of _Peter Pan_ under her other arm before reaching for the nearest lamp switch. "Maybe I should do this for the commander," she quipped under her breath. "I'm sure he'd like someone to feed him a story for once."

Asuka inhaled.

Asuka exhaled.

Ritsuko open the book to its first page and began to narrate in thickly accented German, _"All children, except one, grow up..."_

* * *

# # # presenting # # #

* * *

**TAKING SIGHTS**

**Chapter 15 – On Leashes of Memory**

**Written by: Lavanya Six**

**(please don't sue)**

* * *

# # # another installment in a continuing series # # #

* * *

"Can't sleep?"

The lights were off in the apartment. Shinji, still dressed in his school uniform, lay slumped across his futon. Misato barely made out his sullen facial features in the dark. The past few days had been hard on all of them, even Shinji, who she knew had little love for his father.

"No." Shinji rubbed his face. "Misato."

"Hm?"

"What was the world like when you were a kid?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but suddenly found words lacking. A deficiency of vocabulary did not stall her, rather her response lacked any grounding in opinion. Shinji might as well have asked her what she thought about the far side of the Moon. After a long moment, "I... it was a long time ago. Nice, I guess? Why do you ask?"

He shrugged. "Nice how?"

"It was, uh, crowded."

In the darkness, Shinji's stillness was perfect. "Crowded?"

"You wouldn't understand," she said, and knew at once that even if she was only twenty-nine, she was ancient. "This one time... I was visiting my father in Tokyo, I had to take the train. From the time I left my home to the time I reached my father's apartment, I was pressing shoulders with strangers – on the train to the city, on the subway, on the walk to the right street. I was never _not_ in arm's reach of someone."

"Really? Huh. I just thought that was something they showed in old movies."

"Yeah," she said, voice suddenly throaty, "it was just like in the old movies."

Shinji misread her. "I guess Tokyo-3 must seem pretty lonely to you."

"Kind of. Only when I try to remember." And she tried not to.

She waited in the doorway, listening to the sounds of Shinji breathing. After a fair while had past, she contemplated moving on to bed, but, just before she began to shift her weight from heel to toe, the Third Child spoke. "Misato?"

"Yes, Shinji?"

"I met someone today. This guy. He was... weird. He said he knew me."

"Was he cute?"

"Misato."

"Sorry." She held onto her smile in the darkness. There hadn't been enough to smile about lately. "So, what, was he an old friend or something?"

"No. I told him I'd never met anyone by the name of Kaworu Nagisa."

* * *

**Meanwhile...**

Deep below the surface of the Earth, in Terminal Dogma, history drew to a close.

Sandalphon, battered and broken, dragged itself towards the platform Gendo stood on. For a moment he indulged himself in contemplating the Angel's bloodless body, mentally reviewing old xenobiology articles he had read long ago during GEHIRN's "forward threat planning" phase. He, Yui, and many others had tried imaging what the Angels would be like in order to better prepare Evangelion weapons and battle plans. They had imagined giant humanoids, microscopic invaders, and a thousand other impossible beings fit only for either science fiction or hallucinogen users.

In all those sessions, a singing _anomalocaris_ made of living rock never once came up.

"Yui," he said, eyes locked on the approaching monstrosity, "now would be a good time for a miracle."

The Angel trilled weakly; voice grabbled in such a cold, low-pressure environment. Its ring-shaped mouth, with serrated prongs ringing the inside, quivered. The creature's remaining eyestalk rolled about, for what reason Gendo did not know or care. As it moved near the platform (and Lilith and ADAM), its great body brought wave after wave of LCL crashing onto the flat metal surface. Mixed in with the LCL were streaks of rich, dark red blood from a dead Evangelion.

Gendo Ikari looked away from the approaching Angel and quickly ducked behind Lilith's cross. There, secreted away from all but a knowledgeable handful, was a simple control panel connected to a high-yield N2 bomb hidden under the platform.

There was no big red button to push, no lever to throw. As soon as the correct code was entered – known only to NERV's Supreme Commander – the device would detonate.

This particular N2 bomb was only ever meant to be an act of desperation, a wildcard contingency for an unimaginable worst-case scenario. It wasn't enough to destroy any Angel, and the very idea of it _harming_ Lilith or ADAM was laughable. It would, however, bring down most of Terminal Dogma's roof onto them. Normally, Gendo supposed the bomb would have been triggered by some underlying so that NERV would have time to activate its main Self-Destruct System. That system, the SDS, consisted of three illegal thermonuclear warheads focused on Lilith. The MAGI had calculated that the nukes would have over a sixty-three percent chance of destroying the Second Angel – and stopping a destruction Third Impact. The nukes would also, incidentally, totally annihilate the Geo-Front and NERV HQ and reduce Tokyo-3 to a radioactive sinkhole.

With Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki and the rest of the senior staff incapacitated, there was no one else to assist Gendo in authorizing the use of the SDS. Without secondary confirmation of the order, the MAGI would not active NERV's ultimate fail-safe. So Gendo's use of the N2 bomb under Lilith's cross amounted to little more than spite... and the wild, impossible chance that by slowing the Angel down for a few seconds, something, _anything_ would happen to stop Sandalphon from reaching its goal.

_Hope_, Commander Ikari decided as he entered the code's last digit, _is overrated._

The N2 bomb activated.

* * *

Rei awoke in a sweat, gasping for breath.

She brushed away sweat-soaked azure hair from her forehead. She was confused. Why did she feel pent up with energy? What was going on? And what was she doing back in her apartment?

**Must have been a hell of a dream**

"A dream? What is a 'dream'?"

**~.^** **. . . you don't dream?**

The First Child frowned. "I was in the pilot dressing room in NERV. And... we...." She closed her eyes. "I was *_there_*. Yet I was *_here_*. I do not understand."

**:) That's a dream, dear**

"A dream," Rei whispered to herself.

**:) Yup! Can you feel it fading from your mind as if it hadn't happened?**

"The finer details are... difficult to concentrate on."

**:) Like holding sand in your hand**

Rei blinked. "Yes. An apt description."

**:) Tell me about it before it fades**

"I... I do not feel comfortable doing so."

**:| I understand your concern but you are afraid and I can help you**

Rei shuddered, betrayed by her own body.

**:) See?**

"I...."

**:) Start at the beginning you said you were in the pilot dressing room**

"I was." Rei squinted, pulling at the threads of that terrifyingly human hallucination she had just experienced. "I was in the pilot changing room. I was changing into my plug suit. And, a-and… he…."

**:) Go on**

Rei brought a hand to her lips. "Shinji came into the room."

**:) Hmmmmmmmm**

"I informed him that he was not authorized to be in the room. Only in emergency situations are males allowed t—"

**:) I think I can guess where this all went**

Rei blushed. "This type of dream is... common?"

**:) Oh yes**

"So it is natural what occurred between Pilot Ikari and Soryu and myself?"

**~.^** …**what…**

"So it is natural what o-"

**O.O The second child was in your dream?**

Rei blushed.

**`:-) Interesting... and unexpected**

The girl rolled over, burying her face in her bed's lone pillow. She ignored the sweaty imprint in its cotton. "It is not logical," Rei mumbled into her pillow. "The Second would not respond in such a manner."

**It was a dream a fantasy not reality**

"A fantasy?"

**An expression of subconscious impulses and repressed desires**

Rei rolled over. The ceiling above was streaked with the orange glow of the streetside sodium lights, casting the pitted surface of the ceiling into a stark moonscape relief. "I see."

**Did you enjoy yourself?**

"Yes," she whispered in the dark. "Yes, Cassandra. I did enjoy myself."

**:) Good**

* * *

"Charging... CLEAR!"

"No response."

"Charging to four hundred..."

"Doctor!"

"CLEAR!"

"No response."

"Charging..."

"DOCTOR!"

"..."

"It's over."

"..."

"..."

"Call it."

* * *

Shinji awoke in the dark to realize someone was looming over him.

He sat up and the scent of lavender in the air told him at once who was sitting on his bed.

"M-Misato?"

The older woman sniffed. Shinji realized she was crying.

"What's wrong?"

"...Shinji," she said, "NERV just called."

"They're awake?!"

"It's A-Asuka. And Commander Ikari," said Misato. "Their hearts stopped. They t-t-tried... _they tried_ to restart it but there was nothing they could do. They... called time of death ten minutes ago."

* * *

Karowu Nagisa hummed a tune as he prepared to meet his destiny.

The Eva Cages – _such an apt name_, he thought – were deserted at this time of day. The employees of NERV were still adjusting to the disruption caused by the loss of their city above. Karowu wasn't particular concerned with the human cost of taking control of Unit-02 and tearing through NERV. They would all die once he returned to ADAM, after all. He just didn't want them to suffer unnecessarily before The End.

"What will you choose, Shinji?" he mused to himself. The Third Child had proved so interesting… it pained him to think of his death. Perhaps…

_No, He will decide that. _

Still… even the Second had been intriguing in her own peculiar way. If only her emotions hadn't overwhelmed her… what music she would have made!

"A pity," he said to himself, turning the corner to bring the red Eva into view. "But at least she will have a sort of role to pl-"

Unit-02 exploded out of its restraints.

Pink coolant and shrapnel rained down on the walkway Karowu had been standing on. The teen scrambled backwards, surprised for the first time in his two lives. "WHAT?!?"

_Is Gendo Ikari making a preemptive strike? But Keel said he wou-_

An instant before Karowu Nagisa was about to throw up his AT-Field the public announcement system crackled to life as the Second's voice – steeled, joyful, _alive_ – boomed around him.

"Clear the way, bitches!" crackled the PA system, the energetic voice of Asuka Langley Soryu roaring over the destruction she was sowing. The few workers present hurried out of the Cage as Unit-02 tore through the complex, the giant mecha striding away from Karowu.

The 17th and Final Angel stared at the trail of destruction before him.

"Huh."

* * *

Misato dragged Shinji out of the elevator and into the parking lot. The teen could barely stand on his own two legs. The First Child helped carry her fellow pilot, slinging one of his arms over her shoulders.

"Come on, damn it!"

"..."

"WAKE UP, SHINJI!"

The boy stared dumbly ahead, totally unresponsive.

Suddenly Rei froze up. "C-captain."

"What?" She looked back at the First, then realized the pale-skinned girl was fixated at something in the distance.

Misato turned around.

There, in the middle of the parking garage, stood a woman. She was Misato's age, possibly older. What was remarkable about her was her resemblance to Rei. This woman appeared to be nothing less than Rei with thirty years added on. The only thing clashing with the likeness was this woman's brown hair and normal complexion.

"My name is Yui Ayanami," she said, walking forward, "and I'm going to help you save this world."

Shinji's eyes refocused. "M-m-mother?"

* * *

"W-where am I?"

**:) "What's the old saying? 'Life is but a dream'?"**

"...is this hell?"

**:I "Are there other people here?"**

"There's no one here. Nothing at all."

**:) "Then 'no'." **

"Who are you?"

**0:) "I am... complicated. I've found your antics these last few months **_**fascination.**_** But all good things must come to an end. Or, rather, they need not."**

"Y-you sent me back?"

**xD** **"Back? Is that what you thought?"**

"I don't understand."

**:X** **"That would be telling! Suffice to say, the world... well, **_**this **_**world, does not revolve around Gendo Ikari. Or perhaps I should say this world **_**did not**_** revolve around you."**

"Oh God... I remember. I remember!"

**:P** **"And thus the circle closes, asshole, only to go 'round again and again. As always."**

"Oh God. OH GOD. No! PLEASE NO, NOT AGAIN! NOT A—"

_"The initial contact has no problems."_

He felt numb.

_"Power has been transmitted up to the brachial muscle in both arms. There are no problems with the nerve links."_

He couldn't move.

_"Check. The board is green up to step 2550."_

The room was too bright, the colors wrong. He couldn't bring it into focus. What had happened? Where was he?

_"Begin the third stage connection."_

That voice! He knew that voice! Impossible! He turned his head (he could move!) There, barely, he could make out a blonde woman in a lab coat.

_"Up to 2580 satisfied. Approaching absolute borderline: 0.9, 0.7, 0.5, 0.4, 0.3... no! The pulses are beginning to flow backwards!"_

He looked at her back. There was no blood. No exit wound.

_"Problems encountered in the third stage. It's rejecting the nerve center elements."_

Shouldn't she be dead?

_"Sever the connection! Break the circuits up to level 6!"_

Shouldn't... he himself... be dead?

_"Negative! It isn't accepting the signal!"_

The roar woke him. He remembered that sound. He blinked, looked around. Wasn't this Experiment Station-2? Hadn't he been here before? He had, hadn't he. He remembered this day.

And then Gendo Ikari realized he remembered _**everything**_.

* * *

**TAKING SIGHTS** may be over, but the story is not.

* * *

The saga of Gendo Ikari continues in...

—**OVER OPEN SIGHTS—**

Available Now on FFnet!

* * *

The saga of Asuka, Misato, and all the rest continues in...

—**SECOND SIGHTS—**

Available Now on Adult FFnet!

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

I thought a good long while about how to end _Taking Sights_, and this chapter seemed like the best opportunity to bring everything to a satisfying close and kick off Book 2 of the "_Sights_ Saga". While some things have been wrapped up, so many more ideas have been laid on the table. I think we'll have fun on the rollercoaster ride to come.

While the "Gendo" plotline will continue on FFnet in the form of _Over Open Sights_, the Asuka/Misato plotline will continue in _Second Sights_, which will run concurrently to _Over Open Sights_ on **Adult FFnet**. Sadly, FFnet will not allow me to indulge in the content required to carry on the necessary character development in the "_Sights_ Saga" universe. It's going to be crazy, risqué as hell, and like no other lime-slash-lemon fanfic you've ever read before.

Before I close out this fanfic, I just want to give thanks to everyone who's kept up with _Taking Sights_ since it began in March of 2008. You guys (and gals) are the reason I write. Fanfic authors don't get paid in anything except reviews, and you guys have been great, especially for a fandom as sedate as Evangelion now is. To everyone on FFnet and Darkscribes, thank you. It's been a blast. I hope you enjoy the next two books in this series just as much as this one.

Until next time, Good Night and Good Luck. Also, if you actually thought I'd end _Taking Sights_ this way, I have a bridge to sell you. April Fools. The actual chapter will be up tomorrow. Like, seventy-five percent of this chapter is just repurposed scenes from unfinished Evangelion fanfics I've lost interest in and never completed. Let's see if you bothered reading the entire author's note.

**Goodbye and God Bless.**

**Sincerely, **

**Lavanya Six**

**1 April, 2009**

**

* * *

**

**THE END

* * *

  
**


	21. The Real Chapter 15

_Special thanks to _blueinkedlines _and _MrCJ_ for beta-reading this chapter.

* * *

_

"Hey," she said, apropos of nothing, "remember that time I totally kicked that blue tin can's ass?"

There were no lights on in the apartment. Only the kaleidoscope of colors from a muted television provided any illumination in the night. Against her guardian's face, the resulting contrast was sharp; highlighting each age line, crevice, and the odd pock mark. Misato looked twenty years older.

Asuka felt no younger.

The other woman's voice was low and flat. "Yeah. You really pissed off Ritsuko with your A.A.R."

Asuka snorted softly. With several months to distance herself from the events, it was easy in retrospect to see it had not been smart to phrase her _coup de grâce_ of the berserker Unit-00 as 'doing George Romero proud.' "Whatever," she said dismissively, her voice rough. "Doctor Bitch just wishes she had been the one to ice Rei."

She waited, but Misato said nothing. Asuka took a sip of the beer curled in her hand. "The Commander was there too, you know."

_That _finally drew some semblance of a reaction from her guardian. Misato tilted her head a fraction of an inch and regarded her with a detached gaze. "Huh."

"Yeah. Me and him were the only people awake. Told me to keep his part secret for whatever reason—like I'm going to tell the bastard 'no' when I was already on thin ice."

"Smart."

"He had this abortion in a suitcase. It was crazy."

"That was ADAM, the First Angel. It blew up my dad."

"Figures," she grunted. "You don't like my hair, do you?"

"I liked you better with long hair. It made you look taller."

"_Hmph_. That's what heels are for."

"You keep telling yourself that, Shortbread."

"You know what? I _will_, Major Bitch."

They slipped back into comfortable silence, wide awake even in the middle of the night. Asuka found that she could not bring herself to finish what remained of her beer. The term 'dead soldier' kept churning in her mind.

"Asuka," Misato said, "were you scared when Unit-00 attacked you that time?"

"No."

"No?"

She grunted.

"What about when it's against nine at once?"

Asuka closed her eyes to savor her mild buzz. "Well, we'll find out tomorrow, won't we?"

* * *

# # # presenting # # #

* * *

**TAKING SIGHTS**

**Chapter 15 – On Leashes of Memory**

**Written by: Lavanya Six**

**(please don't sue)**

* * *

# # # another installment in a continuing series # # #

* * *

**0353 Hours**

"—pt--n Kat---a-i!"

"...mmmgph... f-five more minutes, Shin-chan."

"Captain Katsuragi, please wake up!"

Bleary-eyed and exhausted, Misato yawned. For once, she thought, it'd be nice to wake up and find it was the weekend and she could sleep in. "Stop shaking me, Shinji." When the hand at her shoulder didn't stop, Misato's eyes snapped open. "I said I'm up, Sh—"

The mop of brown hair she saw confused the hell out of her.

"M-maya? What are you doing in my apartm—"

Wait.

Since when did her bedroom look like the Command Center?

She sat up, but immediately regretted the decision. "Ugh." Her vision swam. She closed her eyes, drew in a deep breath, and then slowly looked out at the world again. "What happened?"

"We're not sure, ma'am, but whatever it was it seems to have happened to everyone else. We're getting reports in from all over base and topside. It... it appears that we've collectively lost almost four hours."

Misato stared to piece together her last thoughts from before blacking out. "You fainted."

Maya nodded.

"An Angel?"

"The MAGI registered an Angel in Terminal Dogma. It—"

_"WHAT?!" _Misato scrambled to her feet, tugging the hem of her miniskirt to a more modest position. She suppressed a fresh wave of nausea at the quick movement. "Hyuga, go to First Stage Alert and find the pilots! Maya, I want Rei to proc—"

"CAPTAIN KATSURAGI!" Maya shouted, surprising both of them. "Um, ma'am," she began again, "the Angel is dead. Telemetry from Unit-01 confirms it."

"Shinji?!"

A communications window flashed open on the Command Center's central holographic display. _"Guess again, Misato."_

"Asuka? What the hell are you doing in Unit-01?"

_"Hmph. Good morning to you too."_

* * *

Kozo Fuyutsuki opened his eyes.

"Oh, God," he muttered weakly, looking down at his ripped clothing and exposed chest. "Ikari finally lost all sensibility and had his way with me."

* * *

_"Attention all personnel,"_ Hyuga Makoto announced over NERV's public announcement system, _"report to your duty stations and register with the officer in charge._ _This is not a drill. I repeat, attention all..."_

Ryoji Kaji rubbed his forehead gingerly. "You're such a tease, Ritsu. If you wanted to sleep with me, you didn't need to spike my drink."

"..."

"Ritsu?"

"..."

"Ritsu!"

* * *

"...yes, I understand." As the lift rose through the primary deck of the Command Center, Fuyutsuki snapped his cell phone shut. Before him, the officers of NERV limped about, visibly fighting to stay awake. Several had messed had or were vomiting. A few sported magnificent bruises. Captain Katsuragi was awake and looked together enough, considering the baseline. She stood hunched over Lt. Ibuki's shoulder at a nearby workstation.

However, what drew his attention were the images on the main screen.

At first, Kozo couldn't process them. His eyes darted from one gruesome image to the next, slipping past outward details as his mind drowned in their horror. Slowly the haze of violence came into focus.

Multiple windows showcased the remains of Unit-00. The blue-and-white armored Evangelion had been decapitated without mercy at the neck. Whatever meat and gore remained of its neck covered its torso. A distant tracking shot showed the fallen giant splayed amidst a ruddy blossom in the LCL reservoir.

The other images were worse.

Heaven's Door was a shattered wreck, a heap of scrap metal; there was no hope that it would ever work again.

Unit-01, standing atop a pile of rubble, had been laid bare. The armor plating on its chest, shoulders, and arms was gone. So too was one of the Eva's hands, amputated at its wristt. The rest of the unarmored, exposed grey flesh was awash in _more_ blood, complete with several gashes that Fuyutsuki knew indicated severe internal damage. The helmet of the Unit was only partially intact, its distinctive horn gone. The beast's jaw had come unhinged.

And Lilith...

He snapped to Captain Katsuragi, "Get that off the screen!"

The captain nodded to Lt. Ibuki, who executed the order without delay. Every display, save for the A/V link to Unit-01's plug, closed.

"Report."

"Sir, the Angel orchestrated some kind of psychic attack. The MAGI are still trying to determine the exact cause but their records show that everyone—_almost_ everyone—here at NERV and in the Greater Tokyo-3 Metropolitan Area was rendered unconscious at 0023 hours. Shortly after the Angel's destruction at 0349 hours, the MAGI recorded the first signs of activity among personnel at 0351 hours."

"Unit Zero?"

Here the younger woman hesitated. "Asuka says it went berserk. We won't know anything for certain until we retrieve the data recorders. I've dispatched a S.A.R. team to retrieve the First and Second Child. With their internal batteries depleted, the Evas—"

"Fine." He glanced around the Command Center. "Damn, what a mess."

* * *

"One... two... and lift!"

The Third Child's vision swam as a group of medics lifted his stretcher up. His Section-2 detail, who normally orbited him at a distance, had been hovering over him when he had come-to on the floor of the locker room. Not that he thought it was the locker room at first. All he had been aware of was that his head hurt and he had blood all over his face. Despite his protests, they would not even permit him to walk five feet into the shower room to wash off the dried brown blood. They would not even let him sit up, instead holding him to the cold concrete floor while they waited for the medics.

Shinji hated the smell of blood.

"I'm fiiine," he slurred, exhausted.

A medic grabbed Shinji's head, forced an eyelid open, and shone a blinding light at him. "Left pupil dilating. It just looks worse than it is with the burst capillary."

"I said... I'm fine." He pulled at his restraints but he was too weak to break them.

"Mister Ikari, please stay still."

They wheeled Shinji around a corner. The movement made him feel nauseous. He shut his eyes.

"Ugh."

"Stay still," said a new, firm voice. "You're going to be all right."

Shinji decided he really was hurt. Why else would he imagine hearing his father's voice?

* * *

"...reports that the fires topside are under control," Lt. Makota continued, reading off his data pad. "The Chief of the JSSDF is demanding to speak with you. So is the UNCMF C-in-C and the Japanese Prime Minister. The Office of Public Affairs is calling every five minutes. They don't know what to say."

"Hell, _I_ don't know what to say. Tell them I'll call them back. Tell everyone that."

"Yes, ma'am."

"What's the latest headcount?"

"Reports are still coming in, but the MAGI estimate the casualty figure will be somewhere in the high triple digits."

"Hell."

"Yes, ma'am."

"I need to talk with Asuka."

* * *

"I'm sorry, but my patient—"

"Your patient," Misato interrupted, "is the only eyewitness to the last four hours. I also outrank you so much that your boss's boss prays to me for easy childbirths and plentiful harvests."

The doctor did not - quite - sigh in disgust. "Fine. But if she so much as—"

Misato brushed past the doctor and opened the door to the exam room.

"Nice butt," she said by way of greeting.

"Christ!" The Second Child swiftly gathered up the folds of her hospital gown. "A little warning next time, thank you!"

"Nothing I haven't seen before." She closed the door, keeping one hand concealed behind her back. "How are you holding up?"

"How do you think? I've been up for nearly a day, and I just massacred Rei's junker and that damn rock fish."

"Ppretty damn good, huh?"

Asuka smiled sweetly.

"Well, you're going to have to push past the adrenaline burnout for now. I need to know everything about what happened, Asuka."

"Wonderful," she deadpanned. "Can I at least get some panties on before you debrief me?"

Misato held up her shower kit. "Ever better."

* * *

Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki looked over Rei Ayanami's hospital room. Various doctors and nurses busied themselves with every atypical blip on the First Child's E.E.G., preparing the girl for a battery of diagnostic tests. Normally Dr. Akagi or Lt. Ibuki would handle Rei's case, just in case questions arose about little things like the First Child not being composed of normal matter. However, thanks to a combination of the MAGI manipulating scanner data in real-time and an ingrained instinct in NERV's staff that suggested one avoid asking questions, Kozo wasn't worried. Still, it didn't hurt to keep an eye on things. He wasn't doing anything else at the moment except avoiding Chairman Keel's calls.

The faint sound of German tugged at his ear. He poked his head out the door and spotted the Second Child walking down the hall with Captain Katsuragi. The two females were carrying on an animated discussion, or at least the Second Child was trying to. Her efforts at caricature were hampered by her efforts to hold her gown shut. While his own German was fragmentary, and his limited English too strongly accented in his opinion to be spoken aloud, he did not pick up on any familiar words. That didn't mean anything. NERV, as a rule, refrained from hiring mouth-breathers. They could be speaking in a code of their own.

"They're discussing the merits of Mister Kaji's posterior."

"Ikari!"

Somehow, the commander had snuck up on him. While he looked as composed as ever, Kozo noted that his friend appeared a shade paler than usual. His uniform suit was also freshly ironed -- he had changed clothes.

"Let's take a walk, Professor."

* * *

"You _shot_ Rei in the face?"

"I shot _Unit-00_ in the _brain_," Asuka corrected, voice muffled by the steam filling the cloistered hospital shower. "I had already ripped off its face."

Captain Katsuragi reached up to massage her temples.

"You should know all this already, Misato."

"Until we retrieve the black boxes from Units Zero and One, we _don't_. The cameras in Terminal Dogma don't activate without a direct order from command-level personnel or until Heaven's Door has been compromised."

"Oh. Well, I'd say it's been compromised to hell."

"Yes. I saw. Christ, Asuka, did you have to do that Lilith? That thing's a damn Third Impact waiting to explode."

"I needed a weapon." The sound of the running water ceased. "Towel."

Misato tossed her ward one, unable to restrain herself from inspecting the multitude of garish bruises on Asuka's body. "Maya says your synchronization set a new record."

"Yeah. I kinda figured."

"The MAGI report it maxed at 101.9 percent."

"Really? Shiest." Asuka strode out nude, hair wrapped in the towel, head held high. "What else?"

"So... after you engaged Unit-00?"

"Well, since I was alone, I had to check to see if Rei's Entry Plug was still intact. Then I decided to..."

* * *

**0110 Hours**

_"No, Pilot Soryu. You may _**not** _kneecap Unit-00."_

"It's a precautionary measure!"

_"It's excessive. You already ripped Unit-00's face off and decapitated it with gunfire -- something which I'm sure Doctor Akagi and the rest of the Science Division will enjoy repairing over the next several weeks."_

"And what if it decides to talk a walk when the Angel shows up?"

_"Unit-00's internal reserves are fully depleted. It is highly unlikely it will reactivate."_

"And how likely was its attack in the first place?"

_"Significantly less unlikely. Moving on -- are you still capable of piloting Unit-01 against the Eighth Angel?_

"Could have done without the warm-up round, but yeah."

_"Pilot Soryu,"_ he said, _"you just destroyed an enemy Evangelion with your bare hands. Hand, really. Despite your overreaction, the First Child was still uninjured. How hard will it be to defeat one more enemy?"_

The phantom ache in Asuka's neck begged to differ. "You've never been in a real fight, have you, sir?"

_"I'm not as innocent as you'd likely believe, Pilot Soryu."_

No shit. "Rei fought—"

_"That was not the First Child you fought. Unit-00 merely went berserk."_

"Funny. I hadn't realized berserk Evangelions could calmly stalk their enemy and use their AT-Field to bend light." When the Commander did not rebut her, she continued. "But you're right. That wasn't Rei."

The First Child never would have engaged in direct combat. She sucked at it. Rei would have sniped Asuka's umbilical cable from a distance, then kept her cloak up (how the _hell_ did she do that, anyways?) until Unit-01's batteries had run dry. "Any clue who it was?"

_"I have no idea. I'm sure Doctor Akagi will find the matter fascinating."_

Asuka snorted.

_"Rearm yourself and continue on as planned."_

In the obscurity of her entry plug, Asuka Langley Soryu snapped a loose salute. "Yessir!"

* * *

**0434 Hours**

"Are you sure, Ikari?

"It was _Her_, old man. I'd recognize that voice anywhere."

"Well, at least Unit-00's Core is intact. Counting that with Ramamurthy's project not leaking during the blackout, we've had two minor miracles in one day." Kozo slid the key back into the false bottom of his dress shoe. "So why Unit-01? Why not Unit-02 if the Second Child was also awake?"

"I have no idea."

He grunted, slipping the worn shoe back on. "She can pilot Unit-01. That's new."

"Perhaps not. Last time, we never tested for cross-compatibility between Unit-01 and the Second Child."

"Yes. Because there's no _sane reason _in trying_._ At best we'd have gotten a null signal from the Core; at worst her brain would have burned to a husk like all the adult test subjects. You're lucky that didn't happen to the Second."

"There was no choice."

"That's a lie. There were options. Unit-01 was just convenient."

"Hrm. In any case, it's done."

Kozo, recognizing that final statement was as close to an acknowledgement of wrongdoing as he would receive, let the issue drop. "And after Unit-00?"

"We..."

* * *

**0113 Hours**

Once Gendo had triggered the mechanism to open Heaven's Door, he turned and watched Unit-01's approach. The metal Titan sloshed across the LCL reservoir, growing more and more impossibly large as it neared. Gendo struggled to stay on his feet as the Eva entered the doorway and paused.

"Unit-01," he radioed, pressing himself against the doorframe to avoid the LCL runoff raining down from the Eva's pallet rifle, "hold position."

_"Understood."_

He waited for Heaven's Door to fully retract. The reaction of the Second Child to what waited behind it was predictable.

_"What the HELL is that?!"_

"That would be the Second Angel, codenamed Lilith. She's the reason all the other Angels attack Tokyo-3."

_"It's a she? How can you tell? Never mind. I don't want to know. Christ,"_ she hissed. _"What's next? LCL goo monsters? Malevolent sapient architecture? Misato joining AA?"_

Gendo glanced at the armored suitcase in hand. "Nothing so banal, Pilot Soryu."

_"Joy."_

* * *

**0445 Hours**

"_That_ was your plan? To wait for the Angel while we all were unconscious?"

"Essentially, yes."

"That's the w—"

"Major, the initial report on Unit-01—"

"Thank you, Hyuga."

"You were saying?"

"I was -- hey!"

"What?"

"Don't tuck that in so tight. You'll stretch the fabric."

"I can't help it if your overripe melons mean your blouses are too big on me."

"My melons? Who are you – Kaji?"

"Ahaha. _Funny_. Moving on, Misato."

"Right. So your plan was..."

* * *

**0118 Hours**

"That's your plan? Wave the abortion at the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man?"

_"Essentially, yes."_

"That's the worst plan I've ever heard."

_"You're young. You'll hear plenty worse."_

"Ugh."

_"There's simply no alternative." _

"Again -- ugh."

"_If we try to wait out the Angel—"_

"Yeah, yeah." She rolled her head around her shoulders but stopped when she realized that Unit-01 followed suit. "I just don't see why we gotta wait out the Angel. It has to come after this Lilith thing eventually."

_"Not necessarily. Most plans are predicated on the planner winning, or at least surviving. Such preconditions are limiting, and, at times, they are a selfish luxury. However, if the planner is willing to sacrifice everything -- even himself -- then new avenues for success open."_

"So, what? You think the Angels are working together? Sandalphon holds us down while the next one beats us up and takes our lunch money?"

_"It _is _curious. The Angels show no systematic organization, yet each Angel so far seems to be ideally suited to NERV's available suite of counterattacks. If Ramiel been the 'Third' Angel, could NERV have responded in time?" _

"Could we have?"

_"Even during wartime, Ramiel slipped through our defensive screens. In all likelihood, the UN would have sent tens of thousands of soldiers to the slaughter before dropping an N2 on the city. Even if they hadn't nuked Tokyo-3, NERV would have had to rely on a totally inexperienced Third Child piloting Unit-01 trying to snipe the enemy without Unit-00 for cover."_

"So that's a big no." She yawned. "So how long until rock boy shows up?

_"We'll see, won't we?"_

"So... what do you want to start off with while we wait: Twenty Questions or Eye-Spy?"

_"Ugh."_

* * *

**0238 Hours**

"I spy with my lit—"

_"LCL."_

"Damn."

_"I spy with my—"_

"More LCL."

_"I thought you said you've never played this game before, Pilot Soryu."_

* * *

**0325 Hours**

"I'm boorrrrred."

Down below, on the platform before Lilith, Commander Ikari was lying on his back. He tucked an arm behind his head and was using his armored suitcase as a foot stool. _"Yes."_

Asuka rubbed her eyes. Stewing in electrified LCL for too long always made her tear up. "Look, as much as I enjoy setting in this tomb and doing squat, the Angel isn't coming."

_"Patience, Miss Soryu."_

"It's not."

_"Patience."_

"I'm looking at the same MAGI readouts you are. The Angel isn't moving. Your plan is a piece of sh—"

And it was at that instant that Asuka learned that someone can, in fact, stare down a mecha with a 1:100 height advantage on them.

"—suuuuure to work when given ample time. Sir. Commander."

The man looked away. _"Perhaps you're right. I hadn't wanted to use the contingency but it seems we have no other choice."_

"If you feel that way, sir, I'll stand by your decision." She paused. "Though, if you don't mind, before you magically summon the Angel, I'm going to crack off this horn." Asuka reached for her the piece jutting out of Unit-01's head armor. "It's making my skull feel top-heavy and I need—"

_**"NO."**_

She froze.

_"You will do no such thing."_

"Um... why?"

_"The horn,"_ he radioed, cracking open the armored suitcase, _"is from the myth of the Oni -- a Japanese devil. My wife was fond of the legend. She thought it was thematically suitable, considering our enemy, and added it to her design."_

_"Your wife? Shinji's Mom__? _She _built the Eva?"_

The line was silent for a long moment, and Asuka began to suspect that the Commander had lost interest in her again. However, just as she opened her mouth, he spoke again. _"She designed Units Zero and One, similar to how your own mother directed the Unit Two Project."_ He paused again. _"I knew your mother."_

Asuka felt her chest constrict. "Y-you did?"

Commander Ikari placed the bakelite brick before Lilith, and then atop the brick he placed a hand grenade. _"Only through my wife. She and your mother were... intellectual rivals."_

Shinji's Mom knew my Mama? "Were they friends?"

Something crackled over the radio. For a moment, Asuka thought it was static, but then she realized it was Commander Ikari **laughing**. _"No,"_ he said. _"Yui and Kyoko hated each other."_

Asuka stared down at the little figure dangling his feet off the side of the platform.

_"Tell me, Pilot Soryu."_ He pulled the pin on the grenade and rose to his feet, putting distance between himself and it. _"Have you ever heard of Henry Kissinger?"_

* * *

**0455 Hours**

Fuyutsuki stared at Gendo, horrified. "You used a _hand grenade_ on ADAM?"

"To be precise, I used Thermite."

"Y-you... you didn't actually—"

Gendo smirked.

"Oh my God. You did. You _bastard_."

"It produced results."

* * *

**0338 Hours**

The first warning they had of Sandalphon's approach was the frenzied cry of the MAGI's seismographs, which preceded (albeit by mere seconds) a titanic rumbling beneath their feet. After a moment, the shaking leveled off to a distant rumble.

_"It's near."_

"No sh—"

From the LCL reservoir, there came a terrific explosion. Asuka wheeled Unit-01 about, and her eyes came upon a horrific sight.

Born to writhe in superheated liquid rock, the Angel Sandalphon lacked anything resembling grace in a surface environment. Its forelimbs—which in another sphere must have possessed a sinuous, animalistic refinement—were reduced to a far more mercurial quality, beating and snapping about with tortured, jerky motions. Sandalphon's body, which was broad and flat at its 'face' and tapered back towards its rear, writhed and undulated as its molten innards burst out of its the rock 'skin.' Soon, the Angel's form was warped beyond recognition. The red-hot gelatinous mass had expanded outwards three times the size of Sandalphon's volcanic form. Its eyestalks, fins, and outward markings were still dimly visible against the glow, but only enough to give the viewer an impression of body parts haphazardly discarded atop a pile of refuse.

Then, just as Asuka found her mind beginning to comprehend the screaming horror, Sandalphon's gory quicksilver form lost its luster. As the heat subsided to match its new environment, the blob of guts retracted into its shell. As fin and tendril resumed position, Asuka suddenly realized the Angel was _adapting_ its very form to this new environment, much as Sachiel had against the N2 bomb dropped upon it. Cursing herself for her dimwittedness, Asuka drove Unit-01 forward into a hollering sprint.

Sandalphon had begun to recover its self-awareness as Unit-01 opened up on it with her pallet rifle. The damage of the rounds was minimal to non-existent; unlike Unit-00, Sandalphon possessed a sense of self-preservation. It had already raised its AT-Field.

"ARRRRGGGGHHH!"

Unit-01, its approach blunted by the resistance of the LCL wrapping its legs, leaped upon its foe. As the purple mecha hung in the air, Asuka tossed her pallet rifle away, convinced of its worthlessness. Sandalphon reared up on its hindquarters, baring its razor-sharp maw at the Evangelion's approach. All this taunt accomplished was to speed the contact between Sandalphon's flat topside and Unit-01's driving heel.

Sandalphon collapsed under the attack, its body stopping up the hole, where a rough whirlpool of LCL now flowed into the depths of the Earth. Retrieving her bloodied progressive knife from her shoulder pauldron, Asuka crouched down upon the shocked Angel and stabbed it into the eyestalk nearest her.

Sandalphon bucked up with a grinding roar.

Asuka, her grip on the Angel maintained only by her hold on the crippled eyestalk, slipped off her feet and swung freely as Sandalphon moved. The burden of Unit-01 atop the rock creature's back was enough to leave Sandalphon unable to lower itself. Asuka refused to let go for fear of losing her prog knife. The Angel began to flail its limbs wildly; the effect unbalanced it enough to tip it backwards.

Asuka, smothered under several thousand tons of Angel and partially submerged in foaming LCL, screamed and screamed. She attempted to force the beast off her, but the weight alone pinned her in place. The only leverage she possessed was her still-steady hold upon the prog knife lodged in her enemy's body. With a death grip on the weapon, the Second Child raked the back of the Eighth Angel. The vibrating, mono-molecular edge of the blade savaged the monster's stone exoskeleton, but it was not enough to make any great gains upon penetrating the hide.

The Eighth Angel twisted about on its back, writhing under the tender mercies of Asuka's Unit-01. Belatedly and with a great cumbersome lurch, Sandalphon tucked its stiff-limbed body together and rolled off of the purple mecha, righting itself. Before its enemy had a chance to regain its footing, Sandalphon pounced atop the prostrate Evangelion. The razors of its _O_-ringed maw latched onto Unit-01's chest armor and, in one crushing bite, tore the metal plating from the humanoid giant, bringing along with it a far amount of flesh and blood. Sandalphon moved for another piece—

Asuka head-butted the Angel.

"GET!" **Bam!** "OFF!" **Bam!** "MEEEE!!"

Left hand palm-flat against its belly, Asuka threw the disoriented Angel off her. As Sandalphon splashed into the LCL, the second prog knife from Unit-01 shoulder pauldron revealed itself. Now, armed with a knife in each hand, Asuka circled Unit-01 around the Angel...

* * *

**0440 Hours**

"...and then I rapidly advanced approximately two hundred meters and executed a modified Whiteaves-strike against the Angel's starboard fin-limb, sever—"

"_Asuka_," Misato interrupted, "I don't need a blow-by-blow."

"But I was just getting to the most awesome part!"

"Try and summarize the key facts, please. I'm already making at least nine generals and two prime ministers late by making them wait to yell at me."

"Fine. Well..."

* * *

**0338 – 0345 Hours**

Sandalphon: "You lose!"

Asuka: "Oh no! I lose!!"

* * *

**0440 Hours**

"There's no need for sarcasm, young lady."

"Fine, I'll cut to the end, okay? Just stop interrupting me."

* * *

**0346 Hours**

The pain she felt—the sensation of a thousand talons ripping open her chest—vanished at the same instant her Entry Plug went dark. Asuka sucked in a ragged breath, sobbing in relief. Then the Entry Plug shook violently. She triggered the restart sequence, but the Evangelion would not engage. Asuka banged on the controls, but it was no use. Her battery reserves were still there; she simply could not synchronize.

"MOVE!" She ordered Unit-01. "Move, move, move! Come on! You've got to move **now**, or there's no point to any of this!"

Sandalphon, no longer content with gnawing on incapacitated pray, brought up the broad, arcing brim of its upper-body and slammed it down onto Unit-01. The force was not inconsiderable. The Eva shuddered as stress fractures in its body armor spider-webbed outwards, compromising its overall integrity. Sandalphon raised its scarred upper-body and slammed it once more onto the Eva.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

And again...

The force of the blows was enough to be felt into Evangelion Unit-01's Entry Plug. It rattled the pilot's bones. The Second Child, her fingers locked tight around the butterfly controls, railed against the heavens: "Come on, come on, come on! You have to MOVE, Asuka, or everyone will be killed! OH, GOD, I'm SO sick of it already! **Just move, you filthy, stinking doll!!**"

The Eva did not move.

* * *

Sandalphon could not see.

Blind in this cold nothingness outside the Earth, its senses worthless without liquid rock providing a means of conduction and reflection, Sandalphon fought a constant struggle to reach out with the light of its soul and conceive a hazy picture of the world around it.

So it listened.

The song of ADAM was its only guide, save the queer trilling of this Shadow of Lilith. To reach ADAM, Sandalphon knew in its heart of hearts that this abdominal insult would need to be silenced.

So it fought blind, sustained only by its own fervor. The battle was long and hard. The Shadow of Lilith rewrote Sandalphon's own song into a symphony of pain. In the end, though, the Angel sang the song of triumph.

Sandalphon listened to the fading sickening, dissonant key of the Shadow of Lilith—and the curious undertone woven into it—and saw that the day was won.

As the Shadow of Lilith's song faded, the voice of ADAM overwhelmed Sandalphon's senses, pushing out all other things until only ADAM remained.

Its own pain forgotten, Sandalphon turned away from its forgotten enemy and limped to join with ADAM in a chorus for a new age.

* * *

**0444 Hours**

Gendo poured himself a drink. "Are you familiar with Moravec and Marchal's work?"

"I know David Lewis is likely right at least," Fuyutsuki said, taking a sip from his own glass. "Why?"

Gendo drained his glass in a single go then poured himself another. "I used the failsafe."

"_What?_"

* * *

**0346 Hours**

Deep below the surface of the Earth, in Terminal Dogma, history drew to a close.

Sandalphon, battered and broken, dragged itself towards the platform Gendo stood on. For a moment, he indulged himself in contemplating the Angel's bloodless body, mentally reviewing old xenobiology articles he had read long ago during GEHIRN's "forward threat planning" phase. He, Yui, and many others had tried imaging what the Angels would be like in order to better prepare Evangelion weapons and battle plans. They had imagined giant humanoids, microscopic invaders, and a thousand other impossible beings, fit only for science fiction or hallucinogen users.

In all those sessions, a singing _anomalocaris_ made of living rock never once came up.

"Yui," he said, his eyes locked on the approaching monstrosity. "Now would be a good time for a miracle."

The Angel trilled weakly, voice garbled in such a cold, low-pressure environment. Its ring-shaped mouth, open to reveal serrated prongs ringing the inside, quivered. The creature's remaining eyestalk rolled about—for what reason Gendo neither knew nor cared. As it neared the platform (and Lilith and ADAM), its great body brought wave after wave of LCL crashing onto the flat metal surface. Mixed in with the LCL were streaks of rich, dark red blood from a dead Evangelion.

Gendo Ikari looked away from the approaching Angel and quickly ducked behind Lilith's cross. There, secreted away from all but a knowledgeable handful, was a simple control panel connected to a high-yield N2 bomb hidden under the platform.

There was no big red button to push, no lever to throw. As soon as the correct code was entered—known only to NERV's Supreme Commander—the device would detonate.

This particular N2 bomb was only ever meant to be an act of desperation, a wildcard contingency for an unimaginable worst-case scenario. It was not enough to destroy an Angel, and the very idea of it being able to _harm_ Lilith or ADAM was laughable. It would, however, bring down most of Terminal Dogma's roof onto them. Normally, Gendo supposed the bomb would have been triggered by some underling so that NERV would have time to activate its main Self-Destruct System. That system, the SDS, consisted of three illegal thermonuclear warheads focused on Lilith. The MAGI had calculated that the nukes would have over a sixty-three percent chance of destroying the Second Angel—and stopping a destructive Third Impact. The nukes would also, incidentally, totally annihilate the Geo-Front and NERV HQ and reduce Tokyo-3 to a radioactive sinkhole.

With Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki and the rest of the senior staff incapacitated, there was no one else to assist Gendo in authorizing the use of the SDS. Without a secondary confirmation of the order, the MAGI would not active NERV's ultimate fail-safe. So Gendo's use of the N2 bomb under Lilith's cross amounted to little more than spite... and the wild, impossible chance that, by slowing the Angel down for a few seconds, something—_anything_—would happen to stop Sandalphon from reaching its goal.

_Hope_, Commander Ikari decided as he entered the code's final digit, _is overrated._

The N2 bomb activated.

* * *

**0447 Hours**

"I'm not... I don't know how to say this without it coming out wrong."

"Take your time."

"When I was in Shinji's Eva, I could always smell him. Y'know? I think it was, like, my brain trying to figure out how to deal with the _impression_—for lack of a better word—we leave on our Evas after we pilot them long enough. It was kinda confusing at first. It was almost like I wasn't just piloting Unit-01. It was like I was piloting Shinji, being him. I'm not explaining it exactly right, but it was seven shades of fucked up. I thought I was having flashbacks of Shinji's life."

"...And?"

"Christ. I'm not crazy, okay? I know I've been kind of screwed up lately but this... _schiest_!"

"Asuka, you can trust me."

"..."

"Asuka—"

"Look, I remember it, but I'm forgetting it, like a dream, but there was this train—I think—and I'm... maybe... Misato, I was talking to..."

* * *

**TIME UNKNOWN**

_Kaworu, why?_

_Because it's my destiny to continue to live, even if the result is the destruction of humanity. But I can also die. Life and death are of equal value to me. Death is the one and only absolute freedom there is._

_What? Kaworu, I don't understand what you're saying!_

_Your's_ _is not the existence that should end. Your people need the future. Thank you, Shinji. I'm glad I met—_

Asuka opened her eyes.

"Ugh." She placed her head in her hands. The world swam around her. "W-what happened?"

"You fucked up, girlfriend."

Asuka looked up.

The girl sat across from Asuka in the brilliant train car (_train car? how did I get here?), _and the afternoon sunlight streaming through the windows lit up her red hair. The warm sun gleamed off the girl in the red plug suit, nearly forming a halo over her head. The bright illumination also made clear the deep, finger-shaped bruises around the girl's neck.

Asuka Langley Soryu saw Asuka Langley Soryu.

"Hi." The Other Asuka smiled, but it did not reach her dull, glassy eyes. "I thought we could take a moment to talk through the miracle of brain damage."

Asuka gaped at the other girl.

"Oh, get a grip." A slender finger reached up to trace her damaged neckline. "Is it really that surprising that you talk to yourself?"

The Second Child found her voice. "W-who are you?"

"I'm Asuka Langley Soryu. Who are you?"

"I'm Asuk—"

"No," cut in the Other Asuka. "You're not."

"What?"

"I'm Asuka. The **real** Asuka. You're just... well, I'm honestly not sure who or what you are. _I_ was supposed to be _you_. That's what we both figured would happen when we planned this gambit. Now I'm just the proverbial transcendental fly on the wall of the greater collective unconscious." The Other Asuka snorted. "Oh course, that's what I get for trusting an Ikari again—the original Ikari, especially."

"No! _I'm_ Asuka! You don't even sound like me!"

"Don't be a dumbass. I sound like your voice does when you hear a recording, right?"

"Y-yes."

"Do you know why?"

Asuka, eager to prove herself against this doppelganger, answered, "The vibrations of the vocal cords reach the cochlea through the body, deepening the voice to the speaker. People sound different from the outside."

Other Asuka clapped. "Give the girl a prize!"

"Look, I was supposed to be doing... something. Before." Her mind drifted as she struggled to grasp onto her lost train of thought. Images filled her mind: a hand rising, darkness splitting, pain and hunger and outrage and—

"The Angel."

Asuka's eyes widened in shock. "Oh my God."

"No. You almost strangled him." She smiled savagely. "That was _awesome_, by the way. I was cheering you on the whole time."

"W-what?"

"Look." Other Asuka leaned forward in her seat, smiling sweetly. "Let's just deal with the issue at hand, hmm? Oh! But _what_ issue? Why can't you move your ass and kill a loser Angel like Sandalphon? It's almost as embarrassing as losing to that pathetic spider."

"Spider?"

Other Asuka ignored her question. "Is it because no one's stroking your ego? Because Shinji insulted you? Because Kaji's already ignoring you in favor of Misato? Or... is it because you got all those sailors killed because you're just a kid playing soldier?"

Asuka felt her blood turn to ice.

"That's it, isn't it? You feel bad about _killing people_."

"N-no."

"Don't lie to me. I know you, whoever you are, better than you know yourself. You're me. Supposedly."

"No!" Asuka shouted, moving to her feet with the _click_ of her heels. "You're wrong!"

"Am I? Think of how many people died on the _Over the Rainbow. _I know, in your shoes, I would have felt—"

"They didn't feel ANYTHING! Why should I feel guilty?!"

As Other Asuka studied her, a queer expression passed over the bruised girl's face. Asuka wilted under the unflinching and, she realized with a sickening twist in her gut, _unblinking_ eyes of her doppelganger. The Other Asuka rose to her feet, walked over, and leaned down to meet Asuka's eyes. "No way... Misato's bullshit was _spot on?"_

* * *

_Misato grabbed hold of her elbow. "Wait. We need to talk about what just happened."_

_"What's there to talk about? Aside from the fact you just humiliated me in front of Shinji?"_

_"You know what I'm talking about."_

_The teen's eyes snapped up and locked onto Misato's. Both females were unrelenting in their gaze. "There's nothing to talk about. It was nothing."_

_"You had a panic attack during a combat situation. You almost lost synchronization with Unit-02. Goddamnit, Asuka," Misato snapped, her normally level voice spiking with anger and concern, "you're lucky you weren't killed!"_

_Asuka jerked her elbow from Misato's grasp, then glared at the older woman for a moment. Finally, she looked away. "It won't happen again," she mumbled. "Please just let it go."_

_"I can't."_

_She rubbed her forehead._

_"You know I can't."_

_"Don't apologize, okay?" She snapped. "It's bad enough when Shinji does it."_

_"Was it because of the Rainbow?"_

_"Don't."_

_"Or was it because of you mother?"_

_Asuka froze. "You… you know?"_

_"It's in your file."_

_"Jesus Christ." Her voice came out in a low hiss. The Second Child turned her back to Misato. She hugged herself, then dropped her arms to her sides when she realized how weak it made her look. She drew herself to her full height, holding her head high. "I didn't need to know that."_

_"That past is the past, Asuka. It's ancient history as far as I'm concerned."_

_The teen snorted. "Right. Because you're so great about dealing with your past. I'm sure you drink all that beer because you like the taste."_

_"Actually, I do," the older woman cut back, "but that's neither here nor there. You punched that boy the other day—"_

_"He had it coming!"_

_"—and Kaji says you never lost your temper like that in Germany. I don't remember you behaving that way when I was your guardian. So what is it?"_

_"There's nothing to talk about, Captain Katsuragi."_

_"Yes, Pilot Soryu, there is." Misato walked around to Asuka's side, wedging the teen into a narrow space between her and the wall. "Because, until you convince me otherwise, your piloting clearance is hereby revoked."_

_**That**_ _caught the redhead's attention. "WHAT?!" She pivoted on her heels to stare at the older woman with wide eyes. "You can't do that!"_

_"Oh, I can. And I will." Misato leaned forward, bringing herself nose-to-nose with the teen. "We need to deal with this problem of yours, Asuka, because otherwise you're a liability to NERV and to your teammates in the field. So start talking because you have," she checked the time display on her satellite cell phone, "47 minutes to convince me that you're fit to go into combat against the Angel."_

_Asuka's_ _fingertips began to tremble. _

_"Asuka, look at me."_

_"..."_

_"Look at me."_

_"Fuck. You. Misato."_

_"Cut the crap. Just tell me what happened in the volcano. What freaked you out, Asuka?"_

_"Nothing happened."_

_Misato waited._

_"Nothing happened." Asuka flexed her right hand. "I can't explain it."_

_"You were fine until the Angel appeared, and you've faced worst combat situations. What was different this time?"_

_"Aside from fighting inside a volcano?"_

_"I thought," Misato said, speaking earnestly, "you were about to die. I thought I_—_I was going to lose you, Asuka."_

_The girl blinked rapidly._ Damn allergies_, she thought. "You want to know what happened?" She asked, voice low and throaty. "It looked like a fish."_

_Misato let that revelation sink in the open for a moment. "So this is about the Rainbow."_

_Asuka laughed, bitter and sharp. "Brilliant deduction! So! Can I go murder the Angel now?"_

_"Do you feel guilty about what happened to the Rainbow's crew?"_

_She flinched as if struck. "Jesus."_

_"Asuka, it wasn't your fault that they died."_

_She buried her face in her hands. _

_"It wasn't your fault that they died."_

_"J-j-just… shut up."_

_"Look, I'm sorry. I am. But we've only got 46 min—ah, 45 minutes now_—_until the drop, Asuka. There isn't _time _for subtlety. I need to know if you can do this or not."_

_Her voice was muffled. "I can still fight. I'm not crazy."_

_"I never said you were."_

_The teen wrenched her face from her hands and glared at Misato. "But you were thinking it!" The keen edge in her voice overpowered the distant roar of the Neo-Path's engines in the background. "Everyone always talks about it when they don't think I'm listening! I can feel them looking at me in the hallways! Even the goddamn grease monkeys call my Unit-02 the Bloody Eva! What? You didn't think I know? Well, I do!" She ground the heels of her palms into her eyes. "I had to learn about it from two gossipy bitches talking about me in a bathroom! Do you know what it's like hearing that?! Hearing people talking about me like that?! Like I'm a freak?"_

_Misato responded by stripping._

_Asuka did not catch on until the older woman had shrugged off her red leather jacket, dropping the article to the bare metal floor of the teleconference room. When the redhead looked up reflexively, Misato was reaching for the neckline of her black dress._

_"What the hell are you doing?!" She demanded, unable to force herself to look away as her superior officer unzipped her black dress and pulled it off. Then Asuka saw something that shocked her further. "W-what the HELL is THAT?!"_

_"A souvenir from the Second Impact." Misato, naked above the waist save for her lavender bra, traced a finger down the jagged scar. "Caught some shrapnel in Antarctica, right before the First Angel nuked the planet. Remember how I told you about being there with my father?" _

_"Y-yes."_

_"He died," said Misato. "They all died. Everyone I'd know for the last four months. And all I could do was bleed inside an escape pod for three days. And as bad as this looks," she glanced down for a moment, studying the off-color flesh of the scar, "it's nothing compared to what's up here." She tapped her forehead. _

_"..."_

_"You found yourself in a no-win scenario, just like me, and now you're wondering what you could have done differently, if there was some way you might have been able to save the people who died."_

_"N—"_

_"But mostly you hate being alive, don't you?" Asuka could not hold back a shiver as Misato studied her, as if she were some germ underneath a microscope. "You hate yourself for surviving and having to live with what happened. At least those sailors got off quick, huh? At least they didn't ever know about how everything went wrong. Must be pretty nice, not having to deal with the aftermath of a Really Bad Day."_

_Asuka said nothing._

_"Sometimes all we can do is survive, Asuka. It sucks, but that's the way life is. The only alternative is to give up... to die... to be weak." Misato zipped up her black dress, concealing the scar once more. "I could never do that. I don't think you could either. Are you weak, Asuka?" _

_"..."_

_"Are you weak, Asuka?"_

_"N-no."_

_"Don't stutter."_

_"NO."_

_"Use your indoor voice, please."_

_Asuka snorted. "Screw you, Misato." The words were without any real anger._

_"I'll let you pilot Unit-02 for now, but this isn't the end of our discussion. I can't have you freaking out if the next Angel is fishy-looking."_

_"I won't. Not again."_

_Misato placed her hands on Asuka's shoulders. "Don't make promises that you can't keep, Asuka. Even if you fail, if we fail, you have to get back up. Okay?"_

_The Second Child let herself be touched by Misato for several seconds, then brushed off the older woman's affection. She moved to the cabin's door and was unmolested. "I'll be in Unit-02."_

_"Asuka?"_

_"Yeah?"_

_"Here."_

_Asuka turned._

_Misato held out the data pad with Terminal Dogma's schematics. "Don't forget this."_

_Asuka accepted it and left without saying a word. _

* * *

"So that's all it took? A little heart-to-heart, and all's right with the world?" Other-Asuka laughed. "Uh-huh. Right. Because I know _I_ responded so well to all those shrinks who wanted me to talk about walking in on my dead mama."

She flinched at the memory of those days. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

Other Asuka snorted. "Wow. This is getting pretty damn reflexive." She paused. "I wonder if we could fuck?"

"W-what the hell?"

"Never mind. Sorry. I'm starting to talk like _her. _I suppose that happens when you spend enough time with someone. You start to end up like those old people in restaurants, dressing so alike you can't tell the husband from the wife."

"You're not making sense."

"Oh, like _you're_ one to judge. You can't even make Unit-01 move. Do you know how hard that is to do? The motherfucking bitch goes berserk at the drop of a hat." She paused. "Or at least it did. She's dreaming now. Though that's no excuse!"

"Whoa. Okay. Obviously whoever got fresh with your neck damaged your brain."

The expression on Other Asuka's face _curdled_. "My brain. Is fine. You little doll."

"I'm not a doll!"

"Liar!"

"Shut up!"

"Listen." The Not-Her thrust an accusatory finger in her face. "I don't know who or what the _fuck_ you really are, 'Asuka,' but it is NOT going to end this way. _Do you understand?_ DO YOU?!"

Eyeing the dark bruises around Other Asuka's neck, she sneered. "I should finish the job!"

Not-Her laughed. The sound came out as an awful sham, a pantomime of emotion. Asuka became at once aware of how the Other Asuka, the Not-Her, held herself. The ramrod straight posture, the unaligned focus of her eyes, the limp way her right arm hung at her side—the wrongness of it.

"How could you possibly understand? I've suffered more than God Himself. The _fake _God I trusted as a child. I would take a thousand crucifixions over real suffering!"

"You're insane!"

"I've clawed my way out of madness more times than you've breathed in your STOLEN life, you pathetic little doll!"

_"I am not a doll!"_

"You're sure as hell not me!" The Not-Her insisted. "And if you're not _Mummy Deawest _or _Daddy,_ I don't know who you could be! There was just the **three** of us who **came back**. You're—" Not-Her shook her head. "No, no. I'm losing focus. Can't lose focus. Not now. It can't end this way. The human race can't lose. _I_ can't lose. I WON'T! And if you claim to be anything like the real Asuka Langley Soryu you won't let some weaksauce Angel kill you! Will you?!"

Asuka screamed with all her heart, "NO!"

"THEN.

"WAKE.

**"UP!"**

* * *

**0347 Hours**

Gendo blinked.

He was not dead.

Genuinely panicked, NERV's Supreme Commander again dashed off the N2's activation code. Again, he found he was not dead. Again, he entered the code, taken excessive care to ensure each number entered correctly. And, again, he found he was not dead.

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" He smashed a gloved fist against the keypad. "NO!"

Briefcase in hand, Gendo hurried to the side of the cross. There, at the edge of the far platform, loomed Sandalphon. The stone Angel clawed forward with its vine-like hands, dragging itself along. Sandalphon was so close Gendo could smell it—sulfur and brimstone, ludicrous but true.

Then... there came a ROAR. A beastly cry no one on Earth had ever heard before, but one with which Gendo Ikari was some experience.

The purple blur moved too fast for Gendo's eyes to track, save for one instant: Unit-01, a jagged and broken progressive knife clenched over its head, eyes blazing white fire, lingering in the air for an impossibly long second before crashing down onto Sandalphon's back.

"YUI!" He cried out. "Thank you, Yui!"

* * *

**0348 Hours**

"AAAARRRRRGGGGHHH!!"

**00:01:04 REMAINING**

Asuka used her momentum to drive the remains of the progressive knife between one of Sandalphon's many fractured armor plates. Slamming down on her dagger's kilt with every bit of strength she had, its broken, jagged blade sank deep into the brittle inner rock-flesh of the Eighth Angel. What traces of energy remaining in the prog knife's damaged batteries burned out in mere seconds, but it was time enough to carve a decent trench into the Angel's hide.

**00:00:55 REMAINING**

Sandalphon bucked.

The motion sent a ripple through its clunky, intersecting armor. The offending prog knife was destroyed and Unit-01's right hand was crushed. Asuka, her synchronization over one hundred percent, screamed again, this time not in bloodlust. Her Eva's trapped hand, however, kept Unit-01 from being chucked off Sandalphon.

**00:00:50 REMAINING**

Sandalphon shifted its weight again. The action drove one of its sharper shards of armor into Unit-01's right wrist, amputating it on the spot. The purple Evangelion tumbled off, splashing down into the LCL. The Angel, exhausted and in horrific agony, slumped down. Internally, its S2 Organ ramped up energy production, fueling the creature's reconstruction.

**00:00:47 REMAINING**

Unit-01 would not be stopped.

The purple Evangelion scrambled to its feet, crouched, and then pounced. Asuka knew where she needed to attack. All she needed to do was follow the streak of Unit-01's blood on its hide.

She brought the Eva's remaining fist down—again and again—cracking open the softer outer layer the Angel had just generated, exposing the gory remains of Unit-01's right hand. Asuka could see the rocky interior of Sandalphon repair itself as she watched. The strange crystalline formations within grew at rapid speeds; it were as if she were watching time-elapsed footage.

She punched forward.

**00:00:40 REMAINING**

Sandalphon heaved once more, but Asuka kept herself balanced. The Angel's interior shattered beneath repeated blows, exposing the Angel's red Core, but, before she could attack again, the crystal fragments decomposed into durable slurry.

It was adapting.

Asuka found that her fingers were not long enough and her fists not good enough to work into the crack in Sandalphon's hide with enough necessary force. She required a weapon, something narrow with an edge.

Asuka turned Unit-01's head and looked at Lilith on Her Cross.

**00:00:35 REMAINING**

Unit-01 waded nimbly through the LCL, which grew shallow near the platform before Lilith. Asuka pounded onto that platform and reached for the nail that pinned the Second Angel's left arm to the cross.

The nail would not give. Distantly, Asuka wondered whether the nail crucifying the Second Angel was somehow part of the cross itself or if it had somehow become one with Lilith and the Cross.

Asuka spared a half second to consider an alternative weapon. Was there something she could—

_Ah._

Unit-01 reached for the mask covering Lilith's face.

**00:00:24 REMAINING**

The Second Angel's soft, gooey flesh clung to the strange purple material. Asuka pulled the mask until it was strung taut—and then the white flesh seemingly decided to part with the mask, all at once. Asuka wheeled around to face her crippled opponent.

**00:00:17 REMAINING**

Asuka closed the space between herself and the broken, quivering Sandalphon. The Angel feebly raised a half-regenerated eyestalk towards her. She drove her free fist through it, shattering the rock-flesh in one go.

**00:00:13 REMAINING**

She brought up the mask of Lilith, aimed for the exposed canyon of rock-flesh that her prog knife had split open and drove the edge of the heavy faceplate into it. Luckily, the material of the mask—whatever strange substance constituted it—held. The slurry inside Sandalphon seemed to have no effect on it. Asuka worked herself into the Angel's body, widening the gap made by her fist and the broken prog knife, working in the indelible edge of Lilith's Mask.

Sandalphon, the Master of Heavenly Song, _SCREAMED_.

**00:00:05 REMAINING**

Through the crumbling rock-flesh, Asuka spotted the ruby gleam of Sandalphon's spider-webbed core. The Angel flopped weakly, trying to throw off its attacker.

Unit-01 held on, digging, fighting, killing.

**00:00:00 REMAINING **

* * *

Gendo stared at the readout on his PDA. "Power reserves depleted."

_It's over. We've lost._

Across the chamber, however, Unit-01 showed no signs of slowing its relentless savagery.

"Yui? No!" He exclaimed. The MAGI's readings were irrefutable. "The pilot... the pilot is still in control!"

* * *

"You're not getting away! Not this time! NOT THIS TIME! NOT FROM ASUKA LANGLEY SORYU!"

The rich, crimson glow of the Angel's exposed S2 Core filled Asuka' HUD. Around it, Sandalpon's rock-flesh struggled to restore itself to cover the exposed vulnerability.

"I'LL KILL YOU DEAD FIRST!"

Asuka tossed aside Lilith's mask and then drove Unit-01's fist into the red orb.

* * *

**0510 Hours**

"...and then it died. The End."

Misato stared at her. "I'll kill you dead first?"

A faint pink tinge appeared in Asuka's cheeks. "It loses something in the translation from German."

"Uh-huh."

"Oh, fuck you. Now if we're done, I'm tired, and I think I've earned a little shuteye."

"All right." Misato nodded to the Section-2 escort hovering outside the break room. "I'll have you escorted to the pilot barracks. There's still some clean up going on. I will, however, need your After Action Report by midnight tonight."

"Ugh. Christ. I forgot about that."

"Sorry. Regulations and all that." Misato collected her handwritten notes and stood up as well. "Sleep tight, Asuka."

* * *

"I've ordered the doctors to fast-track your brain scans."

"I'd thank you, Gendo, but I'm sure you're only doing it because you need me to fix the Evas." She smiled, a touch bitterly, from her hospital bed. "After all, what's a concussion and migraine next to the needs of NERV?"

"Nothing at all."

Ritsuko snorted.

"The Second Child can pilot Unit-01."

"Yes," she said. "I thought you said that was impossible."

"I did. Or, rather, you did."

"The other me. From 'before.'" When he did not respond, she continued, "It looks like the Mark II will be more useful than we ever imagined. Not to mention that, in the meanwhile, we have another spare should Shinji prove unreliable."

"Yes." Gendo Ikari reached into his jacket pocket and removed a small item. He placed it at Ritsuko's bedside. "Here. You'll need these."

They were cigarettes. Her brand. "I quit."

"No, you're been attempting to quit, and it's been distracting you all this week. I need your mind in top shape, not fighting withdrawal. You can quit when the Angels are dead."

"Whatever."

He turned his head towards her. "Doctor, do you know the odds of an N2 mine turning out to be a dud?"

Ritsuko blinked at the non sequitur. "Um, one in 37,000?"

"Is that a question?"

"One in 37,000."

"So very unlikely."

She waited.

Gendo stared at her for several seconds then looked away, adjusting his glasses. "I want a report on my desk by 1700 hours detailing the damage to NERV's infrastructure from the psychic attack as well as timetable for repairs on Units 00 and 01. I'll have the Evas' black boxes forwarded to your lab in Terminal Dogma."

And, without another word, he left.

* * *

In a hospital room not too far away, a different conservation took place between a patient and their visitor.

"Asuka beat the Angel all by herself? In Unit-01?"

Misato Katsuragi nodded. "She did a heck of a job on Unit-00 too. Hopefully, Ritsuko will be able to explain why it went berserk again, but I'm not holding my breath."

"..."

"Rei's okay too."

"Oh."

Misato eyed the bruises around her ward's bare neck, which, despite his trying to tug his hospital gown up to cover them, glared under the harsh florescent lights of the hospital room. "Shinji," she began, her voice hushed, "did Asuka hurt you?"

"Yes," he replied after a moment, "but it's all right. I hurt her worse first."

* * *

"Report."

"Sir, the Second Child's account is roughly congruent with the timeline we've constructed from ancillary MAGI records. However, with the corruption of the data on the black boxes aboard Unit-00 and 01, it is not possible at this time to validate Asuka's account of this morning's events."

Sitting behind his desk, Commander Ikari nodded. "Do you believe she is keeping certain facts from us?"

"Not at the present time, sir. Asuka was forward with several issues that could potentially lead to the revoking of her pilot status. Given that, it is unlikely she would admit to her own mental instability while at the same time hiding other issues. If anything, this 'train dream' of hers would be the thing to hide."

"I see. And the Third?"

"Shinji has declined to press charges against Asuka. However, consider the implications of this incident on their working relationship and on Asuka's overall mental state—"

"Both of which are functional. That's good enough."

"I disagree, sir."

"Your disagreement is duly noted. However, today the Second Child proved her worth this morning. The First and the Second can pilot multiple Evangelions. The Third Child can only pilot _one_, specifically a Unit with two spare pilots." He adjusted his glasses. "However, the Third Child can still be of use to this organization. Until the day he no longer holds any value to me, you will do _whatever is necessary_ to ensure he continues to pilot."

"Sir, he has nowhere else to go."

"Good. Keep it that way. You're dismissed, Captain."

"Sir."

* * *

**(EPILOGUE 1)**

* * *

In the lobby of a hotel far from Tokyo-3, there sat two boys.

"No, really! Snorkeling the ruins is overrated." Kensuke backspaced on his laptop. "I mean, you see one sunken hotel filled with the skeletons of tourists, you've seen them all."

"It's not about the skeletons!" Touji insisted. "It's about the girls in bikinis!"

"Dude. You spent the whole trip on the beach, surrounded by babes."

"...with a _broken nose_ and two _black eyes._"

Kensuke reached over and rapped his friend's knees with a rolled-up _Solider of Fortune_ magazine. "Oh, stop being such a big baby! We got to spend a _week_ on a beautiful beach surrounded by scantily-clad women. Why're you so sullen?" Suddenly a terrifying thought occurred to the bespectacled teen. "Oh, dude. Dude! _Please_ tell me you're not blue-balling over—"

Touji sunk further into his basket weave chair.

"Damn, man. You really are an idiot."

Further discussion was prevented when Hikari Horaki strolled into the hotel lobby. "There you are!" she exclaimed, padding over to their chairs. In the dry heat of Okinawa, the Class 2-A representative wore an orange-and-white striped sundress. Discarding her usual pig-tails, Hikari wore her long brown hair plainly. "Why weren't you at the class meeting?"

"There was a class meeting?" asked Touji.

"Didn't you get my phone message?"

"Class Rep," he said, "but cell's been dead for, like, three days."

Hikari fixed Kensuke with a cool glare. "And what about you, Aida? I know for a fact you don't go anywhere without at least three different chargers in your pocket."

"Um, my ringer's off?"

"So," said Touji, "what's the word, Class Rep?"

"The state of emergency in Tokyo-3 has ended. We're leaving tonight on the first flight out. You should pack."

Kensuke sighed. "I guess it's true. All good things _do_ have to come to an end."

"Ain't that the truth," muttered Touji.

* * *

**(EPILOGUE 2)**

* * *

Commander Ikari strode into the Secondary Dummy Plug Production Plant to find Lt. Ibuki waiting for him. The troubled look on her face did little to reassure him about this emergency call. "Report."

"It's the clones, sir," she said, her voice tight. "The blanks."

Gendo glanced at the darkened tank of purified LCL that dominated the far wall of the chamber. "They've destabilized?" Internally, he cursed this latest derailment of his new Scenario and began to plot a way around such a development.

"N-no. Not exactly."

"Lieutenant, evasiveness is unbecoming a professional."

She stared at him for several seconds, stretching out the silence, then raised her PDA controller. "You need to see it yourself, commander."

The tank's lights switched on.

Gendo stared at the white-skinned, grey-haired clones of the Second Child. They floated serenely in the yellow LCL, smiling in a carefree manner that was alien to the real Asuka Langley Soryu.

"Do you see it?"

He did not. What 'it' was he was supposed to see? The young officer took his non-reaction as an answer in the negative.

"Look closer."

"Lt. Ibuki, if you sorely testing my p—"

Gendo Ikari saw.

He glanced at Lt. Ibuki, then back at the clone that had caught his attention. His eyes darted from clone to clone as they studied the tank's occupants. A rhetorical question spilled from his lips before he could stop himself: "They're all like this?"

"Every single one," replied Maya Ibuki, eyeing the Mk. II Dummy Plug cores with a mixture of curiosity, confusion, and fear. "Though there's no internal damage, every single clone has developed _identical _bruising around their necks. Bruising that is consistent with...

"Strangulation."

Gendo stared at one such clone. Its mindless smile was made more awful by the contrast of finger-shaped bruises wrapped around both sides of its neck. At once, NERV's Commander found himself possessed of a chilling feeling of _déjà vu_ that he could not place. "How?"

"I don't know. This shouldn't be possible." Lt. Ibuki stared at the shadow of violence repeated on all the Mk II Dummies. "I just don't know."

* * *

# # # To Be Continued

* * *


	22. The Great Classroom 2A Apple PeelOff

_Special thanks to _Myriane_ for beta-reading this chapter._

* * *

**A/N: **This chapter is the long promised WAFF -- or at least as near as this particular fanfic will stray towards WAFF. At the very least it will be _silly_. Enjoy it, because after this chapter things start getting **super depressing **as we approach the climax of Book 1 of _Taking Sights._ And because this chapter got so damn big, I split it in two, so you get to spend a little more time in Happy Fun Times Land before we all take the downer train to Eat A Pistol City.

* * *

.

_"Why do you pilot the Eva, Shinji?"_

_He stood on a catwalk before the giant's horned mask. The air hummed with the power of the great machine. At his side stood Misato. "I suppose it's the right thing to do."_

_"Are you going to leave us again?"_

_"If I did, where would I go?"_

_"Nowhere," answered Rei Ayanami, taking Misato's place. "You have nowhere to go, no one who cares. Just like me."_

_"That's not true at all! Father cares about you! More than he does me!"_

_A hand fell on his shoulder. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm proud of you, son." _

_He didn't turn around._

_The pale girl asked, "What will you do once the Angels are defeated?"_

_"I don't know where I'll go then. Who would want me? I'm not important. I'm nobody."_

_The scene shifted. He was walking along a sidewalk. Against the rich twilight sky, the leafy branches of the trees cast long, dark shadows on the pavement. Hikari Horaki walked next to him, a stack of printouts cradled against her chest. "Wait. You actually pilot it?"_

_A nod.__ "Evangelion Unit-01. But..."_

_"What?"_

_"But they don't need me to pilot it. Ayanami can, and now Asuka too. Unit-01 was supposed to be special, 'the Oni System' Dr. Akagi called it. But if anyone can pilot... that means I'm nobody."_

_"Then... why do you pilot Eva?"_

_"Because."__ He grunted. "Because it's the right thing to do. I have to fight the Angels."_

_Hikari stopped walking. A moment later he halted as well. "But," she said, brow creased, "if that's true, then why did you leave?"_

_Anger shot through him. "I came back, didn't I?"_

_"But why did you leave?"_

_A hand fell on his shoulder. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm proud of you, son." Shinji wheeled around and slammed his fist into the balcony window. The glass cracked under his knuckles, sending a jolt of righteous pain up his arm, rattling his teeth._

_"I left because my father lied to me," he confessed to Hikari. "He used Mother against me, just like always."_

_The pig-tailed girl looked fearful. "Are you going to leave me again?"_

_"If I did, where would I go?"_

_"Maybe... maybe you could stay here, Shinji."_

_He cocked his head to the side. "But why would I want to st--"_

_"Seriously," interrupted a familiar voice, "this is the best you can dream of?" He swung around and saw her; dressed in her red plug suit, right arm and right eye bandaged. Shinji fixated on the bare fingers that dangled out of her bandages -- the nails were crusted with something brown. Blood. "At least this isn't as screwed up as that sandbox soundstage thing."_

_"Asuka?"_

_Reflecting the sunset, her smile gleamed with ruddy glee. "You know, it's disrespectful to sleep during class."_

_"Huh?"_

**"MISTER IKARI!"**

At once Shinji scrambled to his feet, out of desk before he even realized he was now awake. All around him, his classmates watched with the weakest sort of self-restraint for their amusement and pity. Hikari Horaki looked at him with an expression that said he was the rudest, most idiotic boy in the world. Shinji felt his back flush.

"Save your napping for after school," snapped the teacher. "You're disturbing the class. Now go stand in the hall!"

"Y-yes, sir!"

* * *

# # # presenting # # #

* * *

**TAKING SIGHTS**

**Chapter 16 The Great Classroom 2-A Apple Peel-Off (Part 1 of 2)**

**Written by: Lavanya Six**

**(please dont sue)**

* * *

# # # another installment in a continuing series # # #

* * *

.

**WEDNESDAY**

.

**W**hen dawn came to Tokyo-3, it blazed across the horizon onto a city of soldiers, scientists, and fools. Little did this teeming, anonymous mass of humans truly realize how close to extinction -- nay, _annihilation_ -- they stood. Yet the terrible truth did lurk in the hearts of them of all, even if they chose not to acknowledge it.

In one particular apartment in Tokyo-3, a triple murder-suicide has just occurred. A lone boy simply snapped from the stress brought into his life by the Angels. He stole a gun and murdered his three female housemates before turning the weapon on himself. We needn't concern ourselves with this terrible crime, however, because like most forms of nastiness in Tokyo-3 it will be covered up in the name of the public good.

Shinji Ikari will certainly never hear about it for two reasons. The first is that he's far too isolated a person to care about the boy who will "transfer" out of his class today. The second reason is that this morning he's currently occupied with far more immediate concerns; like what to make for breakfast that won't get him yelled at by Asuka again and which of his roommates to guiltily jerk off to in the shower.

"Smells good, Shinji," said Captain Katsuragi, gulping down another beer.

Shinji looked away from the foam on her upper lip, unconsciously flexing his right hand as he did so. "T-thanks."

"You burned my eggs," grumbled Asuka, who believed that anything with a tougher consistency than wet glue constituted 'burned'. The bandage on her nose had since come off, revealing a vulgar discolored face and the ghosts of two black eyes. Her blue irises locked onto Shinji's browns.

He looked away. "I'm sorry."

"You should be!" she said, even as she dabbed her toast in egg yolk. "How hard is it to fry an egg?"

Rei Ayanami sat down to the kitchen table, apple and knife in hand.

Shinji glanced at her hands. "That's all you're having?"

"There is nothing else."

"Whaoh." Shinji grimaced, upset at himself for forgetting to cook a vegetarian dish for Rei, and then upset with himself for caring about Rei's feelings (_as if she even has any,_ he thought). He didn't bother apologizing to the pale girl. What was the point? He knew she didn't care either way unless it had something to do with his father.

Shinji was so wrapped up in his own angst that it took Asuka pelting him with a balled up napkin to bring him back to reality. "Earth to Shinji! Make me a new egg! This one tastes funny."

"What? No!"

"Make me a new egg, Third Child! And do it right!"

Instinct propelled Shinji to comply, but the Third Child clamped down on that impulse. Instead he rooted inside his head for the little voice that had given him the means to stand up to his father. After all, if he could tell off his father, the invincible bastard monster who ran NERV, what was an irate redhead? "I-If you want something done right," he said, forcing himself to look the foreign girl in the eye, finding a queer solace in her half-healed injuries, "do it yourself."

Asuka snorted, then winced and touched a finger to her nose. "What_ever_." She picked at her fried egg, cutting it up with a fork.

Shinji sat up a bit straighter, half-sick but proud of himself for facing down someone that wasn't Father or Rei without freezing up.

To his left Misato had watched the exchange silently, miming the action of sipping her beer while her wards battled.

To his right Rei Ayanami took her knife to her golden apple. Shinji ignored her, as was his general policy with all things Rei. Their two other roommates were more attentive.

Misato and soon Asuka watched as Rei Ayanami's knife danced around the golden apple, slicing off the skin of the fruit in a single ribbon. It wasn't that it was an especially interesting sight; it was just that their attention happened to drift to it for whatever reason. The captain and (especially) the redhead waited for Rei's hand to slip.

It didn't.

An unbroken peel fell to tabletop, forming a neat pile.

Misato clapped. "Good show, Rei!"

Rei, still holding the skinned apple and knife in hand, stared back at Misato. "I have peeled an apple. Why is that deserving of praise?"

"It's not," asserted Asuka, focused again on her own plate. "It's just a stupid party trick. Anyone could do it!"

Shinji stared at his own apple, sitting untouched next to his breakfast plate. "I think it's pretty neat," he said, keeping his focus on the piece of fruit. "I know I couldn't do it."

"Obviously, Third Child. You lack the basic skill and fine motor control necessary."

_Basic skill, huh?_ He turned to the woman at the head of the table. "Do you think you could do it, Misato?"

The twenty-something, beer in hand, shrugged. "Dunno. Probably not. It looks hard."

Rei started slicing up her apple into tidy wedges.

"It's not _that_ hard!" insisted Asuka. "If Robogirl can do it, I sure as heck can!"

Resisting the urge to smirk, Shinji slid his apple across the table. "Prove it."

The two teens looked at each other. It took Asuka a moment to catch on that the Third Child was staring her down. She broke out into a grin. "Heh. Okay, Shinji. I'll do it, but what say we spice things up a bit? Make a little wager."

Shinji's poker face faltered just a bit. Nevertheless he plowed on. "Okay?"

"Great!" said Asuka. "When I win you have to make _this_," she swept a hand over the spread of Western dishes, which Shinji had been making now-and-again as an unspoken apology for the incident in the shower room, "every morning for a week."

Misato, tensing, sipped her beer.

Rei munched on her apple wedges.

Shinji started, "And if you can't--"

"Of course I can!"

"If you _can't_," Shinji stressed, "you have to declare right here and now that Ayanami is better than you. _Those exact words_." Shinji shot out his right hand, smirking at the thought of what it'd been doing just a half hour before. "Deal?"

This caused Asuka to hesitate for a moment, but she too pushed aside any doubts and said, "Deal!"

They shook on it.

* * *

The hardest thing about saving humanity's undeserving collective ass, Gendo Ikari decided, was that you still had to deal with paperwork. There were a terrible number of dotted lines that needed to be signed before one could get on with the necessary assassinations, explosions, and mass murdering. Case in point: going over the minutiae of NERV's quarterly budget report with Fuyutsuki and a host of lesser minions. Department by department. Line by line. For _five_ hours.

The fact he hadn't eaten breakfast due to a stomach ache didn't help matters. Sitting still for so long, being intellectually unengaged, only made him dwell on his own hunger. He was almost ready to eat his left shoe by the time Hour 3 rolled around. Almost. Gendo held to a strict "No Eating or Drinking In Front of the Plebes" rule. He liked to think it added to his mystique.

Still, NERV wouldn't run itself. So he forced his body's needs aside and concentrated on the urgent matter of Technical Division Seven's share of the Day Care Center funding.

"Blah blah blah," some nobody lieutenant blathered _on_ and _on_.

By the time the meeting finished and the elevator doors closed on him and Fuyutsuki, Gendo was ready to fall over. Fuyutsuki, thankfully, knew exactly what to do in this scenario. He took out a small package of animal crackers from his jacket pocket and handed it over to his superior officer. "I want the elephants."

Gendo shook out several crackers for himself. "You can have your elephants," he said coolly, despite already nibbling on the trunk of one, "but the lions and tigers are _mine_."

Both men fell silent. A few moments passed where the only sounds in the elevator were the clicking of the car's floor indicator and the thoughtful munching of its occupants.

"Just so you know," said the Commander, handing off the empty snack bag to his inferior, "I'm expecting an assassination attempt tomorrow morning, so clear your schedule and try to act surprised when Section-2 rushes you to the panic room."

"Bastards. You think they could have done it today and saved us having to sit through that meeting."

"Also, I want you to have dinner with Shinji."

_"What?"_

"He should know more about Yui besides the half-truths the media will be feeding him once everything comes out."

Fuyutsuki crumpled up the bag and stuffed it back into his uniform jacket. He took a deep breath, held it, then exhaled. "You haven't started drinking again, have you?"

Gendo snorted. "Unlike our Operations Director, I know when and where not to indulge myself."

"Could have fooled me."

"You weren't always this snarky, Professor. I miss the old man who used to occasionally warm my seat and grumble about ethics and morality while still sending children to the slaughter."

The Vice-Commander, who was holding his hands behind his back as he was prone to, said, "You can't see it, Rokubungi, but I'm making a rude hand gesture towards you right now."

Ikari leaned backwards and glanced at the elderly man's backside. "My. You are."

The elevator doors opened. Wearing blank faces, the two men walked out into the hallway beyond. Flanked by a silent Section-2 detail, they said nothing until they were safely enclosed within the cavernous walls of the Commander's Office.

"Just so we have the story straight," Fuyutsuki said as they hiked across the room to the desk at the far end, "what do you want me to say to your son?"

"Tell Shinji whatever you feel is best."

"Does that freedom extend to discussing _you_?"

Gendo pulled out his desk chair and sat down. "I don't feel the Third Child will be at all curious as to my personal history."

Fuyutsuki took up position beside his superior. "So... any other news you want to spring on me?"

"I've had some time to think with Dr. Akagi out of my bed," he said, drumming his fingers on his desk, "and I've been thinking about all the things I'll miss when they line us up for the firing squad."

"I believe the UN prefers hanging for war criminals."

The Commander waved off Fuyutsuki's concern with semantics. "All this thinking has left me to conclude that, should my schedule allow it, I ought to indulge myself on occasion."

"Isn't that what Doctor Akagi was for?"

"_Lunch_, Professor," said Gendo. "Let's take the afternoon off for lunch, because if I have to read another itemized budget request _people will die_."

"So, sushi? Again?"

"No no no no. Someplace with better... atmosphere."

* * *

The atmosphere before the start of school used to be the least productive for Hikari Horaki. Between her duties as the representative of Classroom 2-A and the social time she indulged in with her friends, the morning was a rush. At least, it was before the start of the war. Now, with each attack, more and more of her classmates' families were packing up and moving out of Tokyo-3 to safer abodes, like hovels in the radioactive Death Zones of India and Pakistan. After the Blackout, which had occurred during her extended class trip to Okinawa, it had gotten to the point where the school had eliminated Classrooms 2-B and 2-C, rolling them into 2-A to make a full-sized class of students. Hikari didn't know anyone who still stayed whose family wasn't working for NERV, and of her friends only Asuka Soryu remained.

So now, in her much tidier and friendless mornings, Hikari used her free time to study.

In her chemistry notebook, Hikari Horaki slid a blank note card over a hand-drawn chart listing of electrons and ions for her upcoming exam. She did this for the sake of brute memorization. The sciences were not her favorite subject -- she inwardly preferred literature, particularly of the pre-Impact authors -- but she wouldn't let something as inconsequential as likes and dislikes prevent her from maintaining her spot in the class ranking's Top 2. Rei Ayanami always held onto the number one spot, despite spending her time cloud watching instead of listening to the teacher's lecture. Hikari long-ago accepted she couldn't beat her, but she would still be the best of the rest.

A shadow settled over the page. "Yo, Class Rep?"

Hikari Horaki didn't look up from her notebook. "What is it, Suzuhara?"

"About the other day, we Kensuke and I were spyi--"

"I don't care anymore," she said, scribbling (well, neatly writing) a page reference next to the previous day's notes. Her irritation rising at the world in general she added, "You can stop bringing it up."

"S-sorry." The tall boy walked away. Hikari sighed. _What the heck was it with boys,_ she wondered, _and why were they so thick?_

"--_SO_ could have done it!" exclaimed a voice from out in the hallway. Asuka Langley Soryu, she knew. That girl must have never learned the difference between Inside and Outside voices. "Anyways, it's just a stupid party trick." Asuka entered the classroom, flanked by Rei Ayanami and Shinji. Hikari watched the latter out of the corner of her eye. "I can't believe you keep bringing it up!"

"Uh, Asuka?" Shinji raised an eyebrow. "You're the one who can't let it go that Ayanami beat you."

As if God hadn't proven he hated the people of Tokyo-3 enough, he sent Touji Suzuhara careening into that private conversation with, "Ayanami beat Soryu? HA! Man, who doesn't beat her these days, am I right?" He elbowed Kensuke, wagging his eyebrows as he did so. "Eh? Eh?" Hikari groaned. Her classmates, who were now spectators to Round 2 of 'Touji VS Asuka', laughed -- nervously, Hikari hoped.

"Touji Suzuhara," growled the Second Child, "you stay out of this. It was nothing important. Right, Rei?"

The First Child, who had quietly taken her seat as her fellow pilots bantered, looked unsure of herself for a fraction of a second. Then she said, "Pilot Soryu was merely trying to prove that she could skin an apple without breaking the peel. Unable to do so, she subsequently stated that I was better than here."

"O-o-o-ohooo!" crowed Touji. "So that's how it is, huh?"

"That was just one apple! One time!"

"You think you could do better? Better than Ayanami?"

"You betcha!" Asuka declared, "I could peel fifty apples."

The classroom fell silent for a moment, then Kensuke Aida whispered, "Nobody can peel fifty apples!"

Asuka froze up. Touji leaned forward, a predatory grin painted across his face. "You said you could peel anything."

"Have _you_ ever peeled fifty apples?" The freckled boy looked around the classroom. "Has anyone?!"

"Nobody could ever peel fifty apples," Asuka said to herself, a sly smile creeping across her face.

Shinji's throat was very dry. Nevertheless he spoke up. "Rei could."

All eyes darted over to the normally sedate Third Child, including a pair of red eyes. The latter were graced by a frown. Slowly, in ones and two, the class looked to Rei Ayanami for confirmation. The First Child, unused to so much attention and feeling acutely uncomfortable blurted, "Yes?"

The reaction was mostly positive.

"Wow!' "I wish _I _could peel fifty apples!" "Amazing!" "Who'd have thought!" "I bet she gets a lot of practice peeling small animals!" "Fifty apples!" "She could too!" _"Schiest!"_

As stated, the reaction was MOSTLY positive.

Asuka Langley Soryu stood up and pointed at her fellow female pilot. "No way can you peel fifty apples!"

"I bet she could!" spouted Shinji, feeling delirious from being so forward, but enjoying putting the screws to Asuka. _Being mean to people is kinda fun_, he realized.

Touji Suzahara craned a long arm over and wrapped it around Shinji's shoulder. Loudly, he announced, "My boy here says Ayanami can peel fifty apples, she can peel fifty apples." Touji smiled at his former business partner. Asuka's face grew red at the betrayal and insinuation of humiliation.

"Yeah," said Kensuke, "but in how long?"

"Faster than Rei could, if she even tried!" shouted Asuka without a second thought.

Someone in the back of the class called out, "I'll take that wager!"

"Me too!"

"Nuh-uh! My money's on Ayanami!"

The classroom broke in a flurry of wagers and taunts. Kensuke Aida whipped out a notebook and began taking down bets with gusto. Fistfuls of yen and IOUs were exchanged.

The three Children looked at one another, suddenly realizing what they'd just found themselves in the middle of. Asuka glared at a nervously smiling Shinji and hissed, "You are _so_ dead."

* * *

"Hyuga, my friend," said Shigeru Aoba, "we live in interesting times."

"We certainly do, but why the hell do you want to spend the afternoon in a strip joint?"

Seventh Heaven was Tokyo-3's premiere stripper bar, which was a lot like saying Jack the Ripper was Victorian London's premiere patron of prostitutes. While it didn't have the refined grace of Room 747 or uptown's Lakefront Club, Seventh Heaven _was_ accessible to the common man (e.g. anyone too cheap to pay for quality).

"Because," said Shigeru Aoba, "it's our day off, and the Tokyo-3 nightlife doesn't start until eight. Besides, don't concentrate on the watered-down drinks and surgical scars; think about the lady friend you're going to be taking home to your apartment tonight."

"Y'know, there aren't a lot of single women in strip clubs."

"True." Shigeru eyed a woman wrapping herself upside down on a pole. "But think of this as keeping your eyes on the prize. Motivation for tonight's mission to the bars, as it were."

"If you say so, Shigeru."

"I do say so, Hyuga."

A waitress in a negligee walked up to them, tray in hand. "Excuse me, but the gentlemen in the corner bought you these drinks."

"We're being picked up by a gay man?" Hyuga asked.

"Free martini!" exclaimed Shigeru Aoba. He grabbed the offered drink and knocked it back. The revulsion on his face was exquisite. "Ugh! Turpentine martini!" He took another sip. "This is almost undrinkable." He finished it off.

"Which gentlemen in what corn...er... OH... MY... GOD."

Shigeru dropped his empty glass. It shattered with a sharp tinkle at his feet. "Is that--?!

Across the titty bar, a grim-faced Commander Ikari stared back at the two technicians. To his side, a voluptuous woman with breasts that would put Misato Katsuragi to shame gyrated her ass into Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki's lap. Commander Ikari made a distinct come hither gesture with two of his gloved fingers at Shigeru and Hyuga.

Hyuga slapped his own cheek in shock, but despite the sharp pain he wouldn't wake up from this strange nightmare. "Oh. Fuck. Me."

"Thanks," said Shigeru, "but you're not my type."

* * *

"Mmm," said Asuka, licking her ice cream cone, "this is my type of place."

The food stand was nothing special, just a modest dealer of greasy comfort situated on the ground level of the Geo-Front. Workers killed time there before or after their shifts, sitting on park benches, eating the simple fare the stand churned out. The food wasn't the greatest and the prices were just shy of outrageous, but at least here he could smoke and eat an ice cream cone at the same time -- and that counted for a lot in Ryoji Kaji's book.

"So let me get this straight," he said, summarizing the situation for those of us who either hadn't been paying attention or else have been randomly skipping through this chapter (if so, go back to the start, you bastards). "You and the First Child are locked in an apple peeling competition scheduled the day after tomorrow to see who can peel fifty apples faster... and, to begin with, you can't even peel one apple."

"Yes," Asuka grunted through clenched teeth.

"And you're in this situation because you were tricked by Shinji?"

"...I wouldn't. Use. The word. _Tricked_."

Kaji smiled. "Er, right. Sorry." He took a short drag on the cigarette dangling from his lips. "So how are you going to get out of it?"

"I'm not."

"You can't even peel apples, Asuka. Are you that desperate to be humiliated in front of all your classmates by Rei Ayanami?"

"I can't back down now!" she huffed, munching on a rice ball. "It's a matter of pride!"

"Right," Kaji said, warily. He had expected as much. "So I assume you'll practice your peeling."

Asuka drew her arms in, making herself look smaller. "Just a little," she admitted in a quiet voice, "yes."

The predatory gleam in her eyes nagged at Kaji. "And... I suppose you'll need apples to practice on. And someone to buy those apples."

Asuka flashed a small, tight smile. She said sweetly, "They don't exactly pay me too much piloting Eva."

He sighed.

* * *

After school, as he went about his chores wiping down the school's chalkboards, Shinji Ikari found himself ambushed by his Class Rep.

"Shinji."

"Uh... hi, Hikari."

"I need to ask you something," she said, hugging her daily homework print-outs to her chest, "and I want you to tell me the truth. This morning, when Asuka cornered herself with that stupid macho bet, were you egging her on?"

"...er..."

Hikari zeroed in on his discomfort, "You... really set Asuka up like that?"

"Um... y-yeah. Kinda."

"Why?"

Shinji suspected Hikari wouldn't accept answers along the lines of 'because it would be hilarious' or 'because screwing over people you hate is a thrill', so he said, "Asuka was up in arms over peeling apples, and when she's like that it's better for her to burn herself out. Otherwise she's a b... _unpleasant_ until she gets her way."

"I suppose you'd know her better than I would, since you spend so much time around her."

"That's true," he replied.

Hikari's left eye twitched. "_Well_," she stressed, "I hope you'll continue being such a good friend to Asuka, because that poor girl is going to be humiliated and heartbroken when Rei Ayanami beats her."

"Eh. Probably, yeah."

"You know, Shinji Ikari, you can be such a jerk sometimes!" And with that, Hikari stomped out of the classroom, leaving behind a very confused Third Child.

"Girls are strange," he said to himself.

* * *

"What do you mean, 'all the apples'?"

"I means what I says." The old, grizzled store owner jerked a thumb towards the bare shelves. "Some crazy gaijin girl and her sugar daddy came in her earlier and bought all the apples. Cleaned me out."

"WHY?!"

The store owner shrugged his shoulders. "No idea."

* * *

peel peel peel peel peel peel peel _slip_

"Damn it."

peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel _slip_

"Damn it."

peel _slip_

"Oh, for Christ's sake!"

* * *

Shigeru Aoba paged through the chart on the karaoke machine's flatscreen display. "Beatles? Feh. Hendrix? That's an insult, reducing him to a sing-along. I'm stumped. What do you think, Hyuga?"

"..."

"Or maybe some Sinatra. Gotta respect the Rat Pack."

"Mm."

"Interesting move, lieutenant."

"Are you even listening, Hyuga?"

"Shush." The bespectacled man rubbed his upper lip in thought.

To Shigeru Aoba, it said a lot about the Vice-Commander that he would bring a portable chess set to a strip club. It said more that his friend Hyuga would rather play chess than get another free lap dance on NERV's dime.

"If you'll allow me, Lt. Aoba," Commander Ikari said, pushing off the big-titted blonde Russian grinding her ass into his lap. "I believe it is my turn at the karaoke machine."

"Uh... sure." He handed over the mike. Commander Ikari quickly picked a song out on the machine and stepped up onto the elevated stage.

The synthesized music kicked in and the Commander began to sing along to the lyrics appearing on the monitor.

.

_Hast Du etwas Zeit fr mich_

_Dann__ singe ich ein Lied fuer Dich_

_Von 99 Luftballons_

_Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont_

_Denkst__ Du vielleicht grad' an mich_

_Dann__ singe ich ein Lied fuer Dich_

_Von 99 Luftballons_

_Und dass sowas von sowas kommt_

.

When the guitar kicked in, the Commander began to sway side-to-side. Watching, Hyuga felt a small part of his soul wither away and die. "Fuyutsuki," the Command said, covering the microphone with a gloved hand, "you presence is required on stage for the chorus."

The Vice-Commander, beer in hand, staggered onto stage, picking up a second mike as he went. Together, the Commander began to sing:

.

_99 Luftballons_

_Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont_

_Hielt__ man fuer UFOs aus dem All_

_Darum__ schickte ein General_

_Eine__ Fliegerstaffel hinterher_

_Alarm zu geben, wenn es so war_

_Dabei__ war da am Horizont_

_Nur__ 99 Luftballons_

.

Hyuga turned to him. "Well," he said, "I think I've been checked. If Commander Fuyutsuki's a bastard on the chessboard when he's drunk, I'd hate to see him when he's sober."

"God," Shigeru said, unable to tear his eyes away from the horror stage, where the Commanders were being dry-humped by three strippers while they belted out a German pop song about a nuclear holocaust, "right now, I wish to hell I _wasn't_ sober."

* * *

Most people would say it was in bad taste -- or at least unsanitary -- to have sex in a mortuary. Kodama Horaki preferred not to be so puritanical in her pursuit of leisure.

"So I lie back and think about the Empire?" she asked, unzipping her skirt.

"Well," said the mortician's apprentice, a handsome young thing she'd picked up at her last glee club meeting, "yeah. Try not to make too much noise. It ruins the atmosphere."

"I'd imagine." She hopped up on the clean steel of the mortuary table. "Ooo! Cold! Say, do you want me to cross my arms?"

"Not unless you want to."

"Do you have a preference?" she asked, lying back, propping her head up on a small block.

"Um, no. I think?"

"It's all right, hon," she said. "Nothing to be nervous about."

"Thanks. Sorry." Even with her eyes closed, she could almost picture him blushing. "This is my, uh, first time doing this sort of thing with someone who's still a--"

_di__ di di di!_

"Shit." Kodama sat up. "Sorry. I forgot to turn off my ringer. Can you just give me a second?" Wordlessly, he handed the phone to her. "Hello? Sis?"

_"Shinji Ikari is history's greatest monster!"_

"Hi! How are you? I don't suppose this can wait?"

_"He's a jerk! I thought he was nice but he's just like all the other boys! And after I went out on a limb and tried to ask him out!"_ Her sister paused. _"But... maybe I'm the one who can change him!" _

Kodama winced. "Hikari--"

_"You think I'm being stupid, don't you?"_

"No," she answered, as her partner began to don a pair of latex gloves and switch on a bright lamp over the steel table. "I think you're being a raging _idiot_, and on fast-forward too_._ Are you even listening to yourself? You sound like every clich in the book. Hold on." She glared at the boy. "Look, I'm willing to try anything once, but give me a sec, okay, hon?"

The mortician's apprentice sighed.

Kodama took her hand off her cell's receiver. "No man's worth surrendering your dignity. Trust me."

_"But why would he be so cruel to Asuka? He's usually so nice!"_

"Why did Mom name the three of us after bullet train service lines? Hikari, sometimes people do things 'just because'. You shouldn't read so deeply into everything this kid does."

_"So you're saying I should give him another chance?"_

"No! I'm--" Kodama sighed. "Can we talk about this tonight? I know you're hurting right now, but this deserves a bit more than I can give you over the phone."

_"R-really?__ Well, that's great! I... oh! Did I catch you at a bad time?"_

"No," she said, glancing around the morgue, "I'm just with my study group. It's no biggie."

_"I'm so sorry! School is more important than my stupid, silly problems. I'll see you tonight, okay? Don't be late! I'm making your favorite!"_

"Thanks, sis. I'll catch you later." Kodama snapped her cell shut, then popped its battery out the back of it. "Aaaand now that that's taken care of..."

"Like I was saying," her boytoy said, "this is the first time I've done this with someone's who's awake. Most of the girls who are into this kinda thing like being sedated first."

"Well, _this_ time, let's try it my way, and next time... well, who knows where we'll end up?"

* * *

The armored sedan dropped them at an anonymous train station at the edge of Tokyo-3's southern residential district. Drunk and bereft of yen bills, Hyuga and Shigeru stumbled onto the sidewalk.

Rolling down his tinted driver's side window, the Commander fixed a glare at the two officers. "This never happened."

And with that, the armored sedan squealed off into the night.

"Dude," said Shigeru, shoulders slumping with a sigh, "Commander Ikari ruined naked women for me..."

"Well, hopefully we didn't make complete asses of ourselves in front of the Commanders."

* * *

"I've seen you _ass_, Ikari," Kozo Fuyutsuki slurred, poking his friend in the ribs. "Hell! I've seen a lot more than your ASS!"

Gendo shuddered as he flicked on the foyer lights in Fuyutsuki's apartment. "Don't remind me. I only agreed to that since it was Yui's birthday."

Very solemnly, Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki declared, "Threesomes really aren't so bad once you get started; they're just a liiiittle more awkward than what you see in pink films."

"Yes, there are usually more _women _too," Commander Ikari grunted, trying to keep his friend from tripping over as the both of them shuffled forward. When he saw that Fuyutsuki's apartment had two floors to it, and that the master bedroom was at the top of a staircase, he groaned. "Fuck it. I'm dumping you on the sofa, old man."

"Do do you think Yui liked it?"

_I do NOT want to talk about this._ "She certainly seemed happy at the time."

Fuyutsuki hiccupped. "I... I don't have much in life, Rokubungi, but I _do_ have a bigger dick than you. I mean, we both saw, right? I just thought you should know."

"I think we can both agree you've always been the bigger dick."

"Exactly!"

"Easy does it." Gendo lowered his friend down onto the leather couch, then helped him settle in by taking his shoes off. "You have blankets someplace, right?"

Fuyutsuki had already closed his eyes. "No. 'm fi'."

Commander Ikari sighed.

"Zzzzzzzz..."

* * *

Misato Katsuragi stepped through the door. "I'm home!"

No one answered back.

Shrugging off her uniform jacket, NERV's Operation Director walked into the kitchen, opened her fridge, and grabbed a beer. Before the pop-hiss of the aluminum can opening had faded, the empty beer can was tossed aside. Misato then reached for another beer. Upon coming up for a breather, she caught onto the spectacle in her midst.

Asuka Langley Soryu was seated at the kitchen table with her sleeves rolled up to her shoulders. Spread out before her on the table, and spilling over onto the floor in dozens of bowls, were apples. Peeled apples. Unpeeled apples. Half-peeled apples. There were hundreds of them. It was like an apple orchard had come along and taken a big fat greasy dump on the table, leaving bits of red, green, and yellow apples everywhere. In Asuka's juice-stained left hand was a shiny red apple. In her right hand was a small pairing knife.

"Young lady," she shouted, "_why_ are we up to our BALLS in apple peels?!"

Asuka rolled her eyes. "Because I'm proving a point. _Duh_."

Misato found herself at a loss. "I **_what?!_**"

peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel _slip_

_"Shiest!"_ snapped Asuka, then blithely tossed the used apple into the bucket nearest her feet. She reached for a new apple.

peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel _slip_

"Young lady, you are _not_ throwing out all that food. It's a waste."

"Wow, geez, Misato! Really?! You think so? Well, maybe I would if there were any use for hundreds and hundreds of apples, I'd take up your suggestion." She waved off her guardian. "Now take your Second Impact Generation neuroses about the value of food and please leave. I'm _busy_."

"..."

* * *

.

**THURSDAY**

.

* * *

"Wow," said Hikari, "you brought enough food for the whole class!"

The apple pies, apple crisps, apple puddings, apple juices, apple sauces, dried apples, caramel-coated apples, and assorted baked goods derived from apples filled Classroom 2-A. There was, in fact, enough food not just for 2-A but also for the years above and below them.

Asuka rubbed her bloodshot eyes. "Yeah," she said, pausing to sip from her travel mug of double shot espresso. "I'm gaga over apples. You can use them for so very many things." She yawned.

"Yeah," Touji said, "but why the hell did you bring it here? What's your motivation?"

She couldn't say it was because Misato would only bring in ten pies for the NERV senior staff break room, so instead she said, "Because I'm... a generous person!"

"Really?" Touji retorted, wolfing down a thick slice of apple pie. "Because (chew) you're always (chewchew) such a pernicious bitch."

"Suzuhara!" bellowed the Class Rep. "Apologize to her right this instant!"

Asuka raised her brow in wonderment. "I'm not insulted. I'm just surprised he used the world 'pernicious' in a sentence. And that he used it in the right context."

* * *

The evening previous...

"Pernicious. P-E-R-N-I-C-I-O-U-S." Mari arranged the Scrabble pieces on the game board. "With a triple word score, that's ninety-two points."

"Mari, 'pernicious' is SO not a word. I'm calling you out."

"Fine!" Mari Suzahara said with a smug grin. "Go get the Dictionary and see! If you're wrong, you lose ten points."

"Ha. Right. I think I know a _little something_ about English, sis. Prepare to be smacked down!"

* * *

"Don't judge me, Soryu. I have _layers_."

"Yeah. And they'll come off if you ever start using soap."

* * *

Ritsuko Akagi needed a bath.

Hell, she needed to strip naked and stand outside in the middle of a typhoon. Anything to rid herself of the stink of a... damn... what day was it? Thursday? Darwin's beard. She hadn't showered in four days, hadn't seen a real bed in _six_. All because of _der__ Demon_.

Oh, Ritsuko knew _der__ Demon _had a name, and that it wore a child's face to better pretend to be a normal human being, but Ritsuko was wise to _der__ Demon's_ trickery. Behind that bipolar smile/snarl laid the heart of a beast, one that condemned honest scientists to countless hours of trying to make a steak out of the ground hamburger that Unit-00's head now resembled. _Der__ Demon_ chained anyone with impulse control to Herculean tasks -- like completely re-armoring Unit-01, and figuring out why the hell _der__ Demon_ stayed awake when everyone else slept during the Eighth Angel's attack -- and kept them in the pit of Central Dogma until they accomplished the impossible.

Ritsuko had seen the sun, once. In the long, long ago. In the Before Time.

There was a knock at her office door. "Well, I'm off to lunch!" said Misato, chipper and cheerful. "See you later, Ritsu. Hey... it's a little smoky in here. "

"Go to hell, Katsuragi," she replied from inside the grey haze, huddled over a mug of coffee, two cigarettes dangling from her lips. "And you can tell Little Miss Anger Management Issues that if she destroys another Evangelion I'll take it out of her hide!" She struck a match and lit a third coffin nail. "I'm serious, Misato! I'll pluck out an eye! Or break her arm! Or both! And don't think I won't! I've done worse to people I like!"

"All you need is a good night's rest and a good lay, Ritsu."

"I have a futon in my side office and a vibrator in my desk. I'm set for life."

"Right. And Kaji and I spent that week together playing Monopoly." Ritsuko snorted. Misato took that as a sign of victory. "So, are you free tomorrow night? Whoa! Whoa! Put down the computer monitor!"

Ritsuko eased back into her office chair. "I'm not in the mood for jokes, Misato. Unit-00's still not out of the danger zone and the Commander wants an analysis of the latest cross-synch tests on Unit-01 in" -- she checked her wristwatch -- "two hours and seventeen minutes."

"Ritsu, what do you know about peeling apples?" And from there, Misato explained the situation at hand.

"So what you're saying is," the blonde scientist said, squinting at the blazing stupidity Misato was demonstrating, "Asuka's going to publicly humiliate herself tomorrow night... and you're **not** going to do anything to stop it?"

"Well," Misato mused, rubbing a finger along her lower lip, "she _did_ manage to peel two apples in a row last night, but that was only because we need to round out the last cobbler."

"Never let it be said you don't have maternal instincts, Misato."

"Asuka has her issues -- "

"To put it mildly."

" -- but if she can't handle something this asinine without having another mental breakdown, then she won't ever be trusted to jockey an Entry Plug again."

Ritsuko blinked.

Misato gave her a little wave, then ducked back into the hallway. "Later, Ritsu!" she called back. "The kickoff's at six o'clock tomorrow night. Don't be late!"

* * *

-TBC!-

**Next Time: **Apples are peeled, Rei and Asuka star in a lemon (yeah, _that_ kind), and the Fourth Child is revealed!


	23. APPLE A GEDDON

Special thanks to _Jaredin Snow _for beta reading this chapter.

* * *

**_Author's Note: _**_Wow, it's a cold day in Hell today._

_I'd like apologize for taking so long in updating _Taking Sights_. It's been over seven months since the last chapter was posted and it'll be a few more months before the next one is too. It's a long story so let me explain._

_As some of you may remember, the length of time between updates of _Taking Sights_ was growing longer and longer with each chapter. This was a combination of the chapters growing in total word count -- longer to write, longer to beta -- and in me losing interesting in the story. I've talked at length on my livejournal about the plotting problems I've had with _Taking Sights_ so I won't repeat myself here. To sum it up, I painted myself into a corner and didn't know what to do next. I had an 'action plot' outlined but the 'character plot' was lacking. Writing this story became like pulling teeth. It was something I **had** to do, not something I **enjoyed **doing in my free time. That couldn't go on forever. So I started writing new fanfic in other fandoms. _

_But I never forgot about _Taking Sights _and I always intended to finish it. A number of things eventually led to me revitalizing my interesting in this story after several months, but foremost among them was the Evangelion fanfic _"Nobody Dies"_ by Gregg Landsman. It's fun and great and you should read it if you haven't yet. There's a link to it in under my Favorite Stories in my profile._

_The final ten chapters of _Taking Sights_ will be written in one block, then, once they're finished and completely beta'd, I'll be posting a chapter one week at a time for ten weeks total. **This will not be for some time, but it **_**will **_**happen. **If you ever want status updates in the meanwhile, check out my livejournal. There's a link in my member's profile. I'm posting _this_ chapter to tide y'all over until that happens._

_But enough flapping of lips, let's get on with the show!_

* * *

**(The Near Future)**

With its battery reserves depleted and its umbilical cord severed, there was no power for Unit-02 to operate its external sensors. In such a state, the Second Child's world had been reduced the bare metal walls of her Entry Plug.

Because the capsule's own power pack had been damaged during her failed ejection, the emergency lights were running at less than a quarter of their normal brilliance. The thin ambient light, mixed with the yellow tinge of the LCL and the red color of Asuka's own plug suit, resulted in everything taking on a crimson tinge.

Eyes bloodshot, mucus streaming from her nose and choking back another sob, Asuka was helpless as her doppelganger calmly lectured her on her many failings.

"SHUT UP!!" she screamed at the shade, curling tighter into her fetal position.

"And you," said the one-eyed imposture, steamrolling on, "with your stupid pride and your need to prove yourself _so_ special and _so_ good an Eva pilot... dying alone and unloved."

"Shut up! Shut Up! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!! _SHUT UP!!_ **_SHUT UP!!_**" she roared, snapping out of her infantile state to bang her fists uselessly on the Plug's butterfly control handlebars. **"I'm** **Asuka! ME!"**

"No," countered the bandaged girl. "Asuka Langley Soryu died over a hundred trillion years ago on a white sandy beach, strangled to death by a spineless coward. Trust me, I was there. I've been awake ever since."

**"LIAR!!"**

"No need to yell," sniffed the doppelganger. "I mean, Zeruel's going to initiate Third Impact with all the Evas disabled or destroyed, but that's not a reason for childish outbursts, _bitch_." The ghost in bandages tried to playfully punch Asuka in the shoulder but all her gloved fist did was pass through Asuka's skin like it was air. "Try to face your death with dignity. Don't struggle. You'll just end up being torn apart by the harpies of fate.

"It all turns to dust, 'Asuka'. Trust me. What happened with our mother hanging herself? _That was just the beginning_." Her shadow self smiled wanly. "Say... do you remember when you and Rei got into that apple peeling competition? It sure seemed important at the time, didn't it?

"And to think," the one-eyed ghost said, her voice echoing off the blood-hued metal coffin, "all the children you were trying to impress that day are dead now."

* * *

# # # presenting # # #

* * *

**TAKING SIGHTS**

**Chapter 16.5/26 The Great Classroom 2-A Apple Peel-Off **

**(Part 2 of 2)**

**Written by: Lavanya Six**

**(please dont sue)**

* * *

# # # another installment in a continuing series # # #

* * *

"Mister Kaji?"

Quickly minimizing the pornographic webpage -- _Melon Time_ -- open on his web browser, Special Inspector Ryoji Kaji spun around in his office chair to face his visit. "Well, well! The Third Child himself is gracing little ol' me with his presence. 'Shinji', wasn't it?"

Standing in the doorway, the boy smiled shyly. "Asuka talks about you all the time," he said, "but we've never been introduced."

"Please," said Kaji, gesturing generously, "step inside. What can I do for you? Does Katsuragi need something?"

Shinji stood stock still. "Um, no. I actually wanted to ask you for some advice. Everyone says you're the man to talk to."

"Advice?" Kaji blinked. "On what?"

"Um, women." He coughed. "Girls. Well, _a_ girl."

Crossing one leg over his knee, Kaji leaned back in his office chair. "Well then, you've come to the right place..."

* * *

The Commander's Office, Fuyutsuki decided, either had far too many windows or far too few drapes. "I'm too old to drink like I did last night."

"Half a pint of beer hardly counts as drinking, Professor."

"I have a small liver."

"Yes," Commander Ikari mumbled under his breath, "well, I suppose God had to even the score somewhere..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing. So, where does Project ARKA stand?"

Fuyutsuki said, "Doctor Ramamurthy reports that his team has finished construction on the devices. Final calibrations are still necessary, but that will be completed by the middle of the week."

"Excellent. Everything is proceeding exactly on schedule." _For once._

"Yes," the older man dryly noted, "everything except the selection of the Fourth Child."

"On the contrary, Captain Katsuragi presented her second candidate to me this morning. I approved the application."

Fuyutsuki sipped his tea. "It's nice to know you value my opinion on the matter so highly, Commander."

"Your opinions are inconsequential with regards to the draftee choice, Professor. The Fourth is at worst a placeholder and at best a spare AT-Field. The Dummy Plug will provide the requisite combat ability."

Fuyutsuki grumbled, "It's a foolish chance we're taking, recruiting a Fourth. Even _Rei_ hesitated to engage Unit-03, knowing who its pilot was. Encouraging comradery among the pilots will only make it more difficult to destroy the Thirteenth."

"It's a risk," Gendo admitted, "but now we know with certainty that Unit-03's pilot won't be physically or mentally contaminated by the Angel. That single fact opens up options that were intolerable in the previous timeline."

"It'd be simpler to just tell the Children that the pilot was killed during the Angel's takeover of Unit-03."

Gendo smirked. "Is that a note of cunning I hear, old man?"

Fuyutsuki was not amused. "It's practicality."

The smile slipped off the Commander's face. "No, it's the sin of convenience. The Children would learn the truth eventually -- and at the worst possible moment."

Gendo leaned back in his chair, surveying the intricate arcane carvings spread throughout his minimalist office. The cosmic order they offered would have been a comforting intellectual myth to anyone who hadn't climbed atop the Godhead already. Gendo knew better, now. "If the last few months have made nothing else clear to me, it's that the universe is inherently hostile to the notion of rational planning."

"Maybe God just hates you."

"If I were a religious man, I might believe such." Many men had professed to sitting at the right-hand of God. Gendo held no such ambition, nor gave any admiration to the Don Quixotes that strove to push back the go beyond the impossible and to break into the heavens. _God_ had sat _in_ Gendo Ikari's right hand. "However, considering I have the best two candidates for God are either crucified in Terminal Dogma or cryogenically frozen, I must discount your theory."

"Hm. Speaking of the universe going wrong, Section-2 reports that the Second Child has entered into a... peculiar situation."

Gendo waved off his friend's concern with a vague gesture. "Mere childishness."

"Or a sign of further instability," he countered. "Instability that will undoubtedly affect production of the Mk. II Dummy Plug."

Adjusting his glasses, Gendo said, "A schoolyard bet is hardly worth obsessing over, especially considering the performance of the Second during the Eighth's attack. Nevertheless, I am personally monitoring the situation." He referred to the cameras and microphones hidden throughout the Katsuragi household. "If anything untoward happens, I'll be the first to know."

Fuyutsuki chuckled. "Nothing good on TV, Commander?"

"If I wanted to watch inane soap operas, I would. The surveillance of the Children is hardly entertainment." He drew up the monitor for the Katsuragi Household's live feed. "See?"

* * *

peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel _slip_

Asuka tossed the ruined apple over her shoulder and reached for another with juice-stained fingers.

peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel p--

"Pilot Soryu, do you require assistance?"

-eel _slip_

Nostrils flaring, Asuka sneered, "No, Robot Girl. I don't."

Rei nodded imperceptibly. "I must inform you that Captain Katsuragi ordered me to ensure you did not waste edible fruit."

"She did?" Another slight nod. "That's great, Ayanami! Why don't you make yourself useful for once time in your life and, I dunno, bake a pie or something?!"

"Yes." Rei moved to the tabletop and began to collect the many water-filled bowls in which peeled and half-peeled apples soaked to prevent browning. "I will bake pie."

Asuka picked up a fresh apple. As she worked at the peel, however, her juice-slick hands slipped and the knife sliced across her thumb. "SHEIST!" Both the apple and the knife clattered to the tabletop. Asuka stuck her thump into her mouth.

Rei continued to gather up apple pieces.

"What?" Asuka demanded, scowling as she sucked on her thumb.

"Pardon?" asked Rei.

"I asked what you're staring at, Robot Girl!"

"I was not staring."

"You _were_ staring for whatever freak standard constitutes staring for you!"

Rei's hands ceased their labors. Eyes downcast, she did not turn to Asuka as she explained, "I was merely observing your technique."

"What about it? You think you can do better?!" Asuka stood up, knocking her chair back. She slammed her knife down atop the juice-slick kitchen table. "Prove it! Show me how it's done, Oh Mighty Peeler of Apples!"

Rei paused. After a few seconds, she drew her hands back from her frozen efforts and stood up straight. "Very well."

"Hey--!"

Rei slipped around Asuka, pressing her back into the German girl's. Resting her chin on the other girl's shoulder, the albino reached around and laid her hands atop Asuka's.

Asuka stiffened up.

Knife in one hand, whole apple in the other, Rei guided Asuka through the motions of peeling the fruit. The kitchen was completely silent, save for the breathing of both girls and the soft, squishy whisper of the knife edge gliding through the apple's flesh. Rei worked the fruit piece slowly, trusting Asuka to absorb the motions of their hands as they worked. After about a minute's efforts, a whole and complete apple peel fell to the tabletop.

Rei stepped back from Asuka's body. "I will require bleached white flour to complete the pie crusts. Do you know where Pilot Ikari keeps his stock?"

"...Um." Asuka blinked heavily. "Flour? Under the, uh, sink. S-Second cabinet on the left."

Rei nodded and set to her baking.

* * *

"Well," Fuyutsuki said, breaking the long, strained silence, "_that_ certainly settles the 'Nature verses Nurture' argument, doesn't it?"

Gendo Ikari rose from his chair. He stood silently for several seconds before reaching up, removing his glasses and rubbing her eyes. "I need some air."

* * *

"...and she's an amazing cook. I guess you'd have to be, taking care of her whole family like that."

"Sort of like you?" observed Kaji as he walked down the hallway with the boy.

The Third Child shook his head. "Kind of, I guess. I mean, they're not my family. Misato's nice but I really just live with them."

Kaji filed that away. "Well, I wouldn't worry, Shinji. This girl from your school sounds like she likes you too."

"But I messed up." His shoulders slumped. "We don't even really talk anymore."

"Shinji, it took me three tries to get Katsuragi to go out on an actual date with me back in college."

"Really?"

"Really."

* * *

_(2005 AD)_

_"I was thinking we could get together after the party and talk..."_

_"Screw off, Ryoji."_

_"Did I mention I have this waterbed I've been meaning to break in? It's new too, not a pre-Impact refurbishment."_

_"I said 'no', creep!"_

_"Darn. Oh well, I guess I'll have to polish off that keg back home all on my own."_

_"Where's your dorm room again?"_

* * *

"If you like someone, you can't let failure get in the way." Kaji paused. "A court order, yes, but persistence is a virtue."

Shinji pressed the call button for the elevator. "But every time I try to talk to her I freeze up."

Kaji held up two open palms to emphasize his next point. "Always remember, Shinji, even if you're terrified, pretend to be confident. It doesn't matter if you think you're going to piss your pants. _Other people don't know that_. If you take a chance and fail, there's always a next time in love. If you succeed, just act like you knew it would work all along. Girls love that."

"Take risks," repeated Shinji.

Kaji clapped him on the shoulder. "Exactly! Taking risks is the only way to get what you want in life."

The elevator chime dinged.

The doors opened.

Across the gulf between them, the two Ikaris stared at each other.

"...It's been a while," said the Commander.

Shinji lunged.

Only the sheer unexpectedness of the attack allowed it to succeed. Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki, Ryouji Kaji, and the anonymous Section-2 floating at the edges of the scene -- all could only stop and stare as Shinji's balled fist connected with his father's nose.

_"RAGGHHHH!"_ roared Shinji.

Cartilage snapped. Blood sprayed. Shinji drew back his fist for another punch, only for his father to pick him up by his throat and then throw him against the nearest wall. Kaji darted to the boy's side, putting himself between Shinji and his father.

Commander Ikari pinched his nose, trying to stem the blood flow. His eyes blazed with anger and hatred, more from bleeding in front of his employees than from the assault. "Get _that _**child** out of my sight!" he roared. "NOW!"

Reluctantly, Kaji stood back. It took three Section-2 agents to drag away the Third Child: two holding onto his writhing arms, and a third holding his legs together. Hauling him off to a detention cell, Shinji looked like nothing less than a hogtied pig ready to be roasted.

"I GUESS WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY," the Third Child, delirious with angry joy, shouted back at Commander Ikari, "IS THAT I'M _PROUD_ OF YOU, FATHER! AREN'T YOU STILL PROUD OF ME?! AHA HA HA HA..."

* * *

The prison was cold and dark.

_My father is going to kill me._

He probably could, too, Shinji knew. Somebody like his father must have killed people in the past. He was just that kind of man.

And it wasn't like Shinji was valuable anymore. He piloted Evangelion Unit-01, but who didn't these days? Asuka had as many Angel kills to her record as he did -- though a lot of people seemed to die whenever Asuka fought on her own. And his father loved Ayanami.

Who was Shinji Ikari anymore?

An extra spare.

An unwanted child.

A coward.

In the darkness, Shinji gingerly explored his sore knuckles. It had felt so _good_, making his father hurt. But what did he have to show for it? A tender right hand and indefinite detention for assault, that's what.

"Useless," he muttered.

Shinji sat in the dark of the cell for a long while before the electronic door snapped open, flooding his prison with hot white light. Squinting against the glare of the hallway, a dark figure walked into his cell. Shinji's heart plummeted at the thought of Misato's anger, but his depression gave way to confusion.

"Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki?" he asked.

The beige-suited elderly man stepped forward, hands folded behind his back. Dryly, he said, "Your father has declined to press charges. Captain Katsuragi will arrive shortly to take you home."

"Thank you," he mumbled.

"Don't thank me. He made his decision before we spoke on the matter."

Softly, Shinji said, "Father must be very angry with me."

Fuyutsuki turned and walked out of the cell. In the doorway, he paused and glanced over his shoulder, "Trust me, Shinji. If there's one thing the commander doesn't get, it's angry."

* * *

(Thirty minutes ago.)

"I am going to_ murder_ that little shit."

"Ikari, calm down." Fuyutsuki bent down to access the bottom-left drawer of the Commander's desk. Inside, unmoved since the arrival of the Second Child, was a half-empty bottle of expensive bourbon and two glasses. "Here, have a drink." The burning, phosphorus-like glare he received from Gendo nearly made him mess himself. Fuyutsuki was suddenly intensely aware that he had just offended a man that had helped premeditatedly murdered three billion people. "Or don't."

Leaning his head back and pinching his nose, Gendo sighed and said, "Leave the bottle."

Dropping the glasses back into the drawer, Fuyutsuki unscrewed the cap on the bourbon bottle, took a swig, winced and then set the liquor on top of the Commander's desk.

Gendo immediately reached for the bottle. When he was done with his best impression of Misato Katsuragi, he set it aside and, still pinching his bleeding nose, said, "I have many things coming to me, most of them justified. Is it too much to ask that the Third Child be professional about his hatreds?"

Fuyutsuki sat. "When you're a teacher, you learn never to expect wisdom from the young. They're idiots."

Gendo nursed his drink.

"You know," Kozo said, venturing to break the silence after several minutes, "I can just imagine what hay Keel will make of this incident."

"Several snide comments concerning my ability to maintain order, but nothing will come of it."

"Hm. You know, maybe we should have saved the strip club for today. I could go for a lap dance."

"Perhaps." Gendo smirked. "Though the women yesterday were amateurs compared to Naoko and Yui working together."

"What."

"For _my_ birthday, Yui brought home Naoko."

Fuyutsuki knocked back more bourbon. "I could have gone the rest of my life without knowing that."

"All I need to do is rope in Captain Katsuragi and I'll have slept with every senior-level administrator in GEHIRN _and_ NERV."

"You're a whore, Rokubungi."

"Why thank you, professor," he said, staring up at the ceiling. "You know, I have this recurring dream. Several -- actually. But there's one with you and Yui and Shinji, when he was just a baby, under a tree in the sunlight."

"Really?" Kozo Fuyutsuki took another hit of bourbon, savoring what might be his last meal. "How odd."

"No. Not odd." Gendo paused. Then, in a slightly less firm tone of voice, he added, "You and Yui are probably the only people in my life I could call friends. I suppose it makes since that after all... this... my subconscious would focus on an idealization of happier times."

Very carefully, Kozo asked, "Do Yui or I ever say anything in this dream?"

"No. You're talking, but I never hear you."

_Thank you, God._ "Huh."

"We're all going to die, you know."

Kozo blinked. "What?"

"I've been thinking about it," Gendo said, relaxing into his chair but still sounding a touch irritated. "No matter how much we bribe, threaten, or blackmail the rest of the world, once the truth comes out, they'll never tolerate NERV. Our continued existence will be repugnant. It won't even have to be the governments that do it -- angry mobs, terrorists, pick your poison.

"But if we _don't_ tell the world about SEELE and Second Impact, then we'll all be murdered in our sleep by those who _do_ know and a generation from now Keel's successors will instigate Third Impact. And we can't tell the truth and then cut and run -- we'd never survive in the long-term. Therefore everyone in NERV, including the Children, will most likely going to be dead within the next six to nine months."

"But the Scenario--"

"Will accomplish most of its goals," said Gendo. "It just won't keep the Children alive. At best, they'll spend the rest of their lives under house arrest. Rei will be dissected." He started reach for another drink, then thought better of it. Putting the bottle and glasses away, he added, "But there's a chance that Shinji will live, and Yui would have wanted that. Otherwise I'd say just let the Angels win."

"Hmph. You're certainly a ray of sunshine today."

"I'm tired of losing, Fuyutsuki."

"Yes, well, better luck next time."

Gendo snorted. "This _is_ my next time."

* * *

"We're home!" Misato called out.

No one said anything back.

Padding into the kitchen, she found Asuka and Rei busy at work baking. "'Hi, Misato,'" the captain mimed pointedly, walking past them and retrieving a beer from the fridge. "'Welcome home!'"

Shinji came into the kitchen, then halted when Ayanami fixed him and his blood-spackled school shirt with a dirty look. He frowned back at her. "I didn't know you could bake," he said.

"I am proficient in many skill sets."

_Yeah, like sucking up to my father_.

"Hey, Third Child," said Asuka, taking three pies out of the oven and setting them aside to cool. "Heard how you beat up your old man. I'm not sure what's more surprising, the fact you showed spine or that you're not cooling your heels in a shallow grave somewhere in the Geo-Front."

"Asuka!" snapped Misato. "Leave him alone."

"I'm fine," said Shinji, bristling at being protected. He could handle the crazy German girl.

Asuka rolled her eyes. "I didn't say it was a _bad thing_, Misato."

Their guardian rubbed her face with both hands. "Okay," she said, dropping her hands. "I'm going to change clothes. I want you kids to clear off the table." Glancing over the baking paraphernalia strewn across the kitchen, Misato added, "Since there's no room to cook things other than apples, we're ordering out. Decide what you want. I'll be back."

Misato left.

"So," Asuka said conspiratorially to Shinji, "did it feel good?"

Ayanami walked between them.

"Yeah," he said, glancing aside at the First Child. "It did."

Asuka asked, lips quirking into a knowing smile, "Did it feel as good as when you hit me?"

Ayanami glanced sharply at Shinji, eyes narrowing almost imperceptibly with curiosity. He flustered.

"Hmph. I guess not," said Asuka, returning to the work of removing apple muffins from their baking tray. Her back to him, she continued, "Not surprising. You must really hate the old fart."

Ayanami was _still_ looking at him. Flinching, he said, "I-I don't want to talk about this."

"Why?" Asuka asked casually. "Because we should be avoid a public show of emotion like good little Japanese children? Oh wait -- I'm exempt from that rule, aren't I?" She started to hum cheerfully. "So, just how much _does_ it burn that your father loves Rei more than you?"

Fists clenched, Shinji took a deep breath. "We're through talking about this."

"Why?"

"Because!"

"No, seriously, why?" Asuka turned to face Shinji. Hopping backwards up onto the kitchen counter, her hands coated in white flour and bits of apple, she said, "We're living together because the commander has some sick social experiment in mind. I think talking about our problems with each other would be the most positive result of such testing. Team bonding and all that jazz, _ja_?"

Shinji stammered, "We don't have any problems with each other."

Asuka snorted. "Yes we do. _You_ hate Rei because she's all buddy-buddy with your father. _I_ hate _you_ because you're a simpering, spineless wimp who can only get it up when he beats women."

He said, "You're not sunshine and rainbows yourself, Asuka."

"Who do I hate?" Rei asked, perplexed.

"You don't hate anyone," observed Asuka. "You'd have to have emotions to hate someone."

"Hey!" said Shinji.

"What? _Now_ you care about Rei?"

The First Child said, "I feel emotion."

"Huh?" said Misato, clad in cutoff jeans and a ratty tank-top, walking back into the kitchen. "Of course you do, Rei."

Asuka ignored both the objections and Misato. "Look at it like this Shinji -- no one here likes you. And why should they? You hate Rei. You choked me. At school you have Hikari and-- oooh, wait, _that's right_, there isn't anyone else. NERV only wants you because you can pilot."

"Asuka," said Misato, "I think that's enough. Let's order dinner."

Shinji averted his eyes. "That's not true," he mumbled.

Asuka jumped off the kitchen counter and got up in his face, nose-to-nose. "Show some fucking backbone for once in your life! I know you can! Chew me out! Cuss out Rei -- everyone already _knows_ you hate her! Or"

"ASUKA!" screamed Misato.

"is it that you need asphyxiation to get your blood flowing, Shinji?! Are you THAT pathetic?!"

Shinji turned away. "I don't need this. I'll be in my room." He walked out of the kitchen.

Misato, gritting her teeth, ordered, "Asuka, go to your room. You're not eating tonight."

The Second Child dismissed her with a wave of the hand. "Whatev--" She was silenced when a firm hand fell on her shoulder, spinning her around.

"You will go to your room," said Misato, "and you're not coming out until tomorrow morning. This is not negotiable.

Asuka shrugged off her grasp. "Yeah. Sure. Fine." With more than a touch of bitterness, she added, "See you in the morning, Captain Katsuragi."

Left in a kitchen smelling of apples, Misato turned to Rei and forced on a smile. "_Well_, have you decided what you want to order for dinner?"

"I am not hungry. I believe I will retire early in preparation for tomorrow night's festivities." Rei walked out.

Misato sighed.

* * *

_"Why do you pilot the Eva, Shinji?"_

_He stood on a catwalk before the giant's horned mask. The air hummed with the power of the great machine. At his side, Misato stood. "I suppose it's the right thing to do."_

_"Are you going to leave us again?"_

_"If I did, where would I go?"_

_"Nowhere," answered Rei Ayanami, taking Misato's place. "You have nowhere to go, no one who cares for delicious red cocks."_

_Shinji did a double-take. "W-what?"_

_"Cocks, Shinji," Rei replied in her customary monotone. "Delicious, delicious sausages with a side of man-gerines. Yum."_

_"Wh-what the hell?!" He pivoted about at the sound of mocking laughter, tearing his eyes away from the albino. There, again, stood the Second Child. As in his last dream -- which he just now remembered -- she was dressed in a mix of bandages and her plug suit._

_"Sorry," Asuka said. "That was beyond juvenile, but I'll take my kicks where I can get them. Stupid little blue-haired bitch wouldn't know a good dick if the Commander shoved it up her albino ass." _

_"Uh--"_

_"Anyway, I was wondering if we could talk for a minute. You're not busy being all introspective and deep and shit, are you?"_

_"Am I still asleep?"_

_Asuka stared at him. "...Yes. _Yes_, you are _definitely_ asleep."_

_"I thought so!" He paused. "Wait. If this is a dream, how do _you_ know it's a dream? How do _I_?"_

_"It's called a lucid dream," the heavily bandaged Asuka answered quickly. "It's when you can control your own dreams and be aware of them as you sleep. Remember that medical TV special you watched when you were eleven? That's how you know it, and how I, who am an illusion of your mind and definitely _**not**_ a phantom from the Dark Era at the absolute end of the universe's entropic arc, know it too."_

_"O...kay?"_

_"Great! Moving on -- eyes up here."_

_"Er-!__ Sorry!" This was crazy, Shinji decided. Why was he apologizing to himself? It's not like this was the real Asuka!_

_"As I was saying before you got all perverted -- I see at least some things _still_ haven't changed -- the reason I wanted to talk with you was because -- "_

_After all, he mused, if this really was a lucid dream, and he could control it, maybe he could... no. _

_No, that'd be perverted and wrong. _

_So very, very wrong._

_" --__ blah blah blah blah revenge blah blah blah blah ADAM blah blah blah blah Third Impact blah blah -- "_

_But it was just a dream, right? A fantasy. He had _those_ all the time during his daily shower. What could it hurt?_

_" --__ blah Instrumentality blah blah blah blah blah your 'Asuka' blah blah isn't one of the three time travelers blah blah blah blah clear and present danger blah blah blah blah -- "_

_'Okay', Shinji, he thought to himself, concentrating at the talking Asuka figure, 'I order you to undress.'_

_" -- blah blah blah Heat Death of the Universe blah blah blah your father is secretly planning to blah blah chosen to blah blah blah blah Yui and I hoped blah blah blah blah -- "_

_'Undresssssss.'_

_" --__ blah blah blah blah Kaworu Nagisa is blah blah blah blah blah blah kill billions if necessary to blah blah blah blah -- "_

_'Show me your breasts, Asuka. Breasssssssts.'_

_" --__ blah blah b-HEY! ARE YOU EVEN LIS-- _OH MY GOD_, WHY DO YOU HAVE A RAGING ERECTION?!"_

_"Eeep!"_

**_"SHINJI, YOU ID--"_**

"NOOOOO!" he screamed, bolting upright in bed. Shinji, soaked in sweat, gasped for breath. He hadn't felt that terrified since the last Angel fight, when he waited outside the volcano for Unit-02 to come back up. All because of...

...what _had_ he just dreamed about? He narrowed his eyes, trying to remember the details before they slipped away. Something involving... Asuka's breasts? And her in her plug suit?

Shinji settled back down into bed. He stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours, waiting for sleep to come. When the night did reclaim him, his sleep was a dreamless one.

* * *

.

**FRIDAY**

.

* * *

"Good morning, Asuka," said Misato, pulling on her bomber jacket. "Are you feeling more like a decent human being today?"

"Good morning to you too." She looked around the kitchen. All her apple crap was gone. Everything had been put away. In its place were several large grocery bags on the kitchen table. "Shinji cleaned?"

"No," she said. "I did."

Asuka blinked. "You can clean?!"

"Of course I can clean! I'm just... philosophically opposed to it at times." Misato cracked open a new beer and downed it. "I thought this apartment could feel a little more homely, is all."

"I think it's a little late for that."

Misato crumpled up her beer can and made a three-point shot for the garbage bin across the kitchen. There was nothing but net in her game. "Shinji went ahead early today. He said he had something to take care of before school. Your and Rei's breakfasts are in the oven. Just uncover 'em. If they're not warm enough, use the microwave."

Asuka checked. Sure enough, a plate of Western style breakfast waited for her on a plate on the oven rack. _So whipped_, she thought with a grin.

"Oh," added Misato, jangling her car keys, "and I ordered your Section-2 detail to make sure you carried all this food," she gestured to the grocery bags on the table, "to school today to share with your classmates. If you don't -- or if you throw it out -- they'll report that to me. Then... well, I'm _sure_ Ritsuko can think of lots of long, boring synch test to run on you. Did I mention that you're her new favorite person in the world after beheading Unit-00?"

"There's NO WAY to carry all that crap by myself!"

"I'm sure Rei will be glad to help out. Have a wonderful day!"

* * * *

Hauling all the apple-related baked crap on foot across the city was, Asuka decided, total bullshit. Even with her stoic little albino baggage handler helping out, Asuka had to take several breaks along the walk to school when her arms got too sore. This meant that she and Rei ended up being late for school, which was just fantastic. Nothing like being forced to carry water buckets _after_ being forced to carry bags of apple pies.

When they finally arrived at school, however, Asuka found two strange boys waiting for her in the deserted front courtyard.

"You're late, sempai," said the lead boy.

"Yeah?" countered Asuka. "What's it to you?"

The other boy said, "You gotta pay the price or will tell everyone you were late to class."

"Underclassman Keita and Underclassman Musashi," Ayanami said, because (of course) she had memorized the school's register, "I do not believe either of you are in a position of authority to dispense proper penalty for our tardiness. Furthermore, I fail to see how a First Year student merits the right to dispense a penalty to Second Years."

Keita leaned over to his friend and stage-whispered, "I call dibs on Ayanami. She seems like the kind to take orders."

Asuka wrinkled her nose. "Okay. Ew. You're a creep who's obviously read too much poorly characterized, misogynistic hentai." Asuka hefted her bag of apple-based goodies and stepped past him. "Come on, R--"

"Tsk tsk tsk," Musashi stepped between her and the door, wagging his finger in her face. Asuka was tempted to bite it off but figured he would mistake that for a come-on. "It's not appropriate time to discuss this. You have committed a crime and now you have to be punished. You know that."

"Okay, dickwad," Asuka said, voice tinged with menace. "This is your last chance."

"Or what, princess?"

Rei Ayanami set down her bags, reached out, took hold of Musahi's wagging finger and snapped it backwards. "This."

"OW! FUCK! FUCK!!" Musahi doubled over, cradling his hand against chest. "You fucking BITCH! You fucking broke my fucking finger! Fuck!"

Asuka blinked. "Jeez, Rei. I didn't know you had it in you."

"I was curious to see how it felt."

"And?"

" -- I felt nothing. --"

" -- It fucking hurt you fucking dyke bitches! -- "

"Wow," said Asuka. "Okay, Ayanami, just remember: it's down the highway, not across the street."

"Street?" Rei paused, then asked, "What is a 'dyke'?"

"It's a rude word for lesbians," Asuka explained, "like Lt. Ibuki. And possibly Shinji."

"I do not believe I have seen evidence of the Third Child displaying indicators of gender dysphoria or, indeed, of any non-heteronormative behavior that would lead me to label him as such. However, his small stature, interest in the arts, disinclination to sports and lack of male contemporaries does lend a degree of supporting evidence to your supposition of the Third not embracing a traditional male gender role."

"Ugh. You know, I realize you don't have the gift of a liberal college education like I do, but just because post-Impact global society has reinforced traditional views of sexuality and reproduction doesn't mean you have to take cheap shots."

"My apologies for being imprecise, Pilot Soryu. I was merely utilizing the prevailing nomenclature for ease of -- "

"EXCUSE ME?!" Keita yelled. "Yeah, we're still here." He cracked his knuckles. "Nobody treats my friend like that! Now get on your knees right now, you stupid bitches, or you'll be sorry."

Asuka frowned, then turned to her fellow pilot. "Wait, wait. Ayanami, how the heck did you know the definition of 'heteronormativity' but not 'dyke'?"

"I believe the answer lies in my upbringing, which Dr. Akagi once described as sheltered."

"HEY! Are you going to apologize to us for your rudeness or not?!"

Asuka looked around the empty courtyard. "Man, where the hell's our Section-2 security detail? You think they'd be all over this like a fat kid on chocolate cake."

"Ain't no bodyguard gonna save you bitches!" said Musahi, leaning forward with his uninjured hand curled into a fist. "So what'll it be?!"

Rei said, "I believe Pilot Soryu was referring to our Section-2 detail preventing gross bodily harm to you, Underclassman Musahi."

"What? By you two skinny bitches?"

"I call dibs on Soryu's mouth," said Keita.

"Look," said Asuka, rubbing her sore nose, "I'm _really_ not in the mood right now. If you knew the first thing about me, you'd realize I'm not some submissive little schoolgirl who's going to spread my legs for the first boy who decides to act like an asshole towards me. Hell, I'd rip out your throat if you tried. NERV wouldn't even throw me in prison, either, 'cuz I'm a _special person_. So I'll let you go -- this time -- with a warn"

As one, the boys blitzed them.

* * *

"Um, h-hi, Hikari."

The Class Rep and the trailing gaggle of girls paused in their walk down the hallway. Hikari glanced aside at them and then, receiving some message he wasn't prone to, the other girls left. Shinji heard them start to whisper when they had moved far down the hall. He hoped the resulting flush burning down his neck and back didn't show on his face.

Notebooks grasped to her chest, Hikari looked him squarely in the eye. "Is there something I can help you with, Shinji?"

"I was... uh... I wanted to ask you s-something. Something important!"

"...Yes?"

_Fake confidence! Take risks! _"Well--"

"HEY!" shouted some pony-tailed girl. She was leaning out the 2-A Classroom door, into the hallway. "Everybody come and see! Soryu and Ayanami are beating two underclassmen to death!"

Shinji and Hikari glanced at one another, then rushed to join the rest of their classmates in scrambling to the classroom for a looksee. A surge of bodies smashed up against the windows, so Shinji grabbed hold of Hikari's hand to pull her through the jostling crowed and reach the windows.

"Oh wow!" "Cool!" "I didn't know you could do _that_ with an apple!" "Keita's getting back up!" "I didn't know Ayanami could bend like that!" "What is Soryu doing with his -- OH MY GOD." "Shouldn't we tell a teacher?" "No." "No!" "Are you daft, man?"

Touji turned to his best friend, who, of course, had his camcorder out. "Please tell me you're getting all"

"**Yes.**"

"Oh my," Hikari said. "Can you fight like that, Shinji?"

He paused. "...Yes. Yes, I can."

"Everyone," said Touji, speaking over the fray, "new rule: do not screw with Eva pilots. You will fuckin' lose."

"Agreed," the class chorused.

* * *

Misato leaned back in her seat across from the principal. "I'll handle the pilots," she told him. "You sentence all four of the children to detentions. Nothing too serious for the girls, but enough for them -- well, _Asuka_ -- to get the message that they aren't above the law. The assholes you can grind into dust for all I care."

"_Miss_ Katsuragi," the principal said, his voice frosty, "your wards assaulted two underclassmen and put them in the hospital. I needn't remind you that this is Asuka Soryu's _second_ infraction for violent behavior in a month. You are in no position to dictate the rules of this school."

"Oh?" Misato leaned forward. "I'm in no position of authority, huh?"

The principal looked as if he had just smelled something foul. "When NERV admitted Rei Ayanami to this school, I was asked to treat her like any other student. Have you yourself forgotten our meeting when the Second and Third Children came here? You wanted them to have one thing in their lives that was _normal_, that gave them grounding. Ms. Katsuragi, you can't have it both ways."

"I understand," Misato said, "and I am fully aware of my own hypocrisy in this matter, but suspending or expelling Asuka won't solve anything. She needs this school."

"She's disruptive, insubordinate, violent, rude and barely literate in Japanese."

"Don't change the subject. Asuka _needs_ this school; she needs to be around children her own age. If NERV put her or the other Children through a 24/7 military lifestyle, they'd crack. We don't know how long it will take the Angels to attack. It could be years -- decades, even. Just because they've attacked sporadically over recent months doesn't rule out a long hiatus."

"So, what, I should just sweep her every infraction under the rug?"

"Yes," said Misato, "or NERV will find a principal who will."

* * *

It was the middle of the afternoon before everything was settled and Misato could take her wards back to their apartment. Upon arrival, she made her three wards sit at the kitchen table in silence as she prepared a late lunch for herself. It consisted of random items, some of them considered edible, thrown into a bowl of instant ramen and then microwaved.

Misato unceremoniously dropped her Styrofoam cup onto the table with a 'thump' that was somehow all the more terrible for its softness. Shinji and Asuka winced. The greasy, charred, pulsating _stuff_ that had once been instant ramen sloshed inside its container. A bit of it spilled onto the table. No one paid any attention to the spill's resulting bubbles, nor would anyone notice the damage to the table varnish for several days. Everyone was too focused on the kitchen's suffocating atmosphere of tension.

"So," said the pilots' guardian, cracking open some canned beer, "we're going to have a little talk about this household."

None of the Children spoke.

The twenty-nine year-old spooned some 'ramen' into her gob and swallowed. Misato Katsuragi was in no danger of food poisoning. Once you survive being at the Second Impact's ground zero even botulism knowsthat if it goes up against Misato Katsuragi it will fucking _lose_.

"Fine," said Misato. "Then _I'm_ going to talk and _you're_ going to listen. In the last two days you three have displayed bad judgment." She laughed. "No, bad judgment doesn't even BEGIN to cover it.

"I understand," Misato grunted, "that you all hate living together. And that's my fault. I forced you all into this situation. You should have had a choice." The captain shifted in her seat. "I've been thinking a lot about our situation over these last few weeks. Today's only crystallized something that I've been considering up until now... that it's time for us to stop living together like this."

Asuka asked, hopeful, "So we can move out?"

"Hell no," said Misato Katsuragi.

"What?!"

"Like it or not, we're a family now. Families don't quit."

"Sure they do!" said Asuka. "That's what divorce is for! Just ask my papa! Besides, you just admitted we all hate living together!"

Misato smiled. "Just like a real family! Is that neat?! It took me years before I'd admit that I hated my own father. The fact our real feeling about each other are out in the open should give us a rare opportunity for growth!"

Shinji's eye boggled in their sockets. "That's insane, Misato."

"Familial love does not logically follow from hated," observed Rei.

Misato shrugged. "What can I say? I'm your commanding officer and, like it or not, the _de facto_ mom around here. My word is law." She crossed her arms. The excessive amount of creamy cleavage that gesture produced did somewhat undercut the maternal sympathies of what she said next. "I've been treating you three like you're my best friends. Like this apartment is a college dorm that we're sharing as equals. Well, that ends today.

"Today, here, _now_, we're starting over. I'm not going to coddle you kids anymore. I'm your guardian and it's time I started acting like it. So let's talk punishments and responsibilities."

The Second and Third Child sagged.

"Asuka," said Misato, "your actions today were inexcusable. Your Section-2 detail would have stepped in had those boys tried anything. I ordered them to give you personal space in school."

The redhead said, "Thanks for telling me that ahead of time. Y'know, before I got hassled by wannabe rapists."

"Nevertheless, there were other ways to resolve the situation besides excessive violence. You could have called for your Section-2 detail on your speed dial. You could have gone to a teacher. You tried ignoring those boys, which is commendable. You can't go beating up every asshole you run into. You'll never find time to sleep." Misato paused to wet her throat with some beer. "But you went too far. You have years of gymnastics and combat training under your belt, Asuka. Dropping that boy to the ground shouldn't have left him in traction.

"After a talk with your principal, I've managed to convince him not to expel you. You'll be doing extra chores around school for the next three months, before and after school."

"Awwwww!"

"And if you have another incidence of violence behavior, young lady, then you _will_ be expelled."

Asuka's eyes brightened.

"Before you get any bright ideas, you should know that being kicked out of school doesn't mean you get absolute freedom during your day. NERV will see to it that you have private, one-on-one tutoring in the most wretched, boring academic subjects you can imagine, all while inside a room with no windows and no computers. You'll spend the same time with those tutors as you would in school on a normal day, except there'll be no one else to talk to." Misato narrowed her eyes at the redhead. "_And_, as your commanding officer,I'll see to it that the Dummy Plug is made the primary pilot of Unit-02."

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"

When Misato spoke next, her tone of voice was anything but maternal, "Yes, I can. And I will. I won't have a loose canon in control of an Eva. The only reason I'm letting you pilot after today is because you didn't throw the first punch, but that's a one-time exception. Am I clear?"

Biting her cheek so hard that it bled, Asuka mumbled a clipped, "Yes, ma'am."

Misato nodded. She took a swig of beer. Some of the tension left her shoulders. "In the meanwhile, I _am_ hiring you a tutor for Japanese. If you're going to live here, it's time you learned to read and write the damn language. You have a college degree -- I expect you to be in the Top 10 of your class after the next round of school exams. Understood?"

Asuka grumbled.

"Do you understand, young lady?"

"...Yes, ma'am."

Misato turned to the First Child. "Rei."

"Yes, Captain Katsuragi?"

"According to everyone's account, even your own, you were the first person today to act violently." She arched an eyebrow. "I have to say I'm surprised. I've never heard anything but good things about your personal record. You've never been trouble for me in the past."

"I apologize for the transgression." He crimson eyes flickered over to Asuka. "I felt... threatened by the underclassmen. I overreacted."

"Yes," said Misato, "especially since you of all people should have known to follow proper procedure. But I understand where you're coming from. That's why I'm not personally punishing you."

"WHAT?!" burst Asuka, knocking her chair back as she jumped to her feet. "Why does the First get off but I don't?!"

"Because it's her first offense. Not her... gosh, Asuka, what's your count these days?" Misato tapped her lips with a painted fingernail. "I've lost track."

Asuka sat back down with a huff. "It's still not fair."

"If life was fair it would be boring," said Misato. Turning her attention back to Rei, she added, "You'll be joining Asuka in her daily school chores."

Rei nodded.

"Also," said Misato, "I want you spend more time with us. No more reading in your bedroom with the door shut or wandering off to your old crappy apartment, understand? We're a family. Families spend time together. They talk."

"Is that an order, Captain Katsuragi?"

"Yes, Rei. It is."

"I see."

Misato shifted her gaze to Shinji.

"I'm sorry," he said preemptively.

Asuka snorted.

"Shinji," Misato said, "you will also be joining the girls at school every day, for three months, to do extra chores."

"What?!" he cried. "That's--"

"Perfectly fair," she finished. "Especially considering that you assaulted a superior officer yesterday."

Shinji scowled. "Man, this sucks."

"Actually," Misato said, "you should thank the girls for providing you this opportunity. My original plan was for you to clean Unit-01 with a toothbrush. But now you'll have plenty of time to bond with your fellow pilots while you perform tedious manual labor!"

"Oh God," whispered Asuka. "She's serious."

Shinji asked the redhead, "About the toothbrush or the bonding?"

"Both."

Misato smiled. "Also, Shinji, every night from now on you're going to be practicing your cello for a half hour in the family room. You've been neglecting your music studies since you came to Tokyo-3 and it's been irresponsible of me not to push you on the matter."

Asuka asked, "Since when do you play the _cello,_ Third Child?"

"Um, since I was eight?"

"He's actually pretty good, Asuka," their guardian said. "In fact, I think he's even better than you are on the violin."

Asuka narrowed her eyes. "I find that hard to believe."

"_You_ play?!" gasped Shinji.

The teenage German smiled. "Since I was _seven_!"

"See?" said Misato, saluting them with her beer. "Isn't it amazing what happens when we sit down and talk with each other? Like a real family?"

"Real families usually involve more lingering recrimination and tension," said Asuka.

"Asuka's right," said Shinji.

"See?" said the redhead with a grin. "Doesn't it feel good to say that out loud? In fact, I think you could stand to say it a bit more often, Third!"

"...I play violin as well," Rei said softly.

Misato clapped her hands together. "Oh! It's practically a Christmas miracle! We should throw a recital for all our friends! There should be cake! And beer!"

"Wait a second!" Asuka's arm shot out, index finger leveled squarely at Misato's forehead like a rifle. "If you're going to start playacting mommy dearest, this is can't be a one-way street. Families aren't dictatorships."

"Yeah!" said Shinji.

Misato scratched the back of her head. "Um, Asuka? They kinda are."

The Second Child recovered quickly. "Fine, but you can't be some negligent mother. Parents have responsibilities."

Shinji grimaced. "Or at least they're supposed to."

Feeling the thin ice under her feet, Misato asked carefully, "What are you suggesting?" The resulting significant glance shared by the three Children chilled Misato to her core.

"Well," said Asuka, "for starters, if were going to have to start calling you Mom--"

_Oh God,_ Misato realized, _I hadn't thought about that._

"--you could stop dressing like a stripper."

"I DO NOT DRESS LIKE A STRIPPER!!"

"You're right, Misato. Strippers put on clothes before they take them off."

"Asuka--"

"I'm just saying," the German explained, "that you're all Miss Professional at NERV but then when you get home it's all about popping open a beer and showing off your tits." When Misato started to object again, Asuka added, "Shinji, Rei and I are mature enough not to need a mother, but if you insist on us having one then it shouldn't be a 'naughty mother'."

Shinji, who was currently dabbing a tissue to his bloody nose, said, "And it'd be nice if you didn't leave all the chores to us." He hastily amended his statement, "But not the cooking. We'll handle that."

"God, not the cooking," Asuka concurred. "The only help with the cooking we need from you is opening your checkbook when we order out."

Misato... sighed. After taking a long draught from a fresh beer can, she said, "O-okay. I'll buy some new clothes with my next paycheck. Grown-up clothes." Her eyebrow twitched. "And we'll figure out how the new chores are divided up later. But I expect you kids to put some real effort into making this family work, understand?"

Asuka said, "One more thing. It'd be nice if you didn't get drunk as skunk every night."

"Don't push your luck." Misato then asked Rei, "Is there anything you want?" The First Child shook her head. "No? Are you sure?"

"I am satisfied with the proposed arrangement."

"Well, if you s--"

Asuka's cell phone rang. "It's Aida," she said, reading off the Caller ID. "It must be time."

Misato stood up with a shot. Pressing the knuckles of her fists against the table, she leaned forward and declared boldly, "Then let's go peel some goddamn apples!"

* * *

It was dusk when Misato careened her car into the school lot, double-parking no less than three other cars in the process of find a good spot. The three children of this family of four exited the sports car, shaken but alive.

Rei and Asuka, both carrying bags of apples, headed inside. Misato and Shinji joined the growing crowd assembled in front of the school. The captain noted with satisfaction that the blood on the ground there had already been washed away.

A banner was draped across the second story windows of the school. It read "APPLE-A-GEDDON '15".

"I guess Aida couldn't make 'The Great Classroom 2-A Apple Peel-Off' fit on the space available," said Shinji.

"I like it," said Misato. "It's pithier." A flash of blonde hair caught her attention. She waved and called out, "Hey, Ritsu! Over here!"

The bleary-eyed scientist wondered over, cigarette dangling from her lips. A brown-haired woman with a baby in her arms glared at Ritsuko and the cloud of grey-blue smoke that followed in her wake. Ritusko ignored the mother and the pitiful coughs of her baby. "Hi, Misato. Heard you had a little excitement today."

"Nothing I couldn't handle."

"I'm sure." Ritsu look over the murmur crowd, to the decorations framing the schoolyard. "The dcor's nice, but all these flaming torches have to be a safety hazard."

"I think it adds ambiance."

"Um, Misato?"

"Yes, Shinji?"

"I'll be back. There's a thing." And without further explanation he wandered off.

"A 'think'?" echoed Ritsuko, confused.

Misato grinned knowingly. "He means a girl."

* * * *

"Hikari!"

She turned.

Shinji Ikari, a little out of breath, edged his way through the crowd. "Hikari!"

"Hi, Shinji."

The two teens stared at one another.

"So, ah," said Shinji, "where are your sisters? I thought they'd be here."

"Nozomi has cram school and Kodama couldn't make it. She said something about being dead on her feet." Hikari smoothed out a wrinkle in her uniform skirt. She hadn't had time to leave school and change, what with all the help needed to get the event's decorations ready. "How are you? And... how's Asuka?"

"She's fine. So's Ayanami." He shifted his weight from one leg to the other. "I was wondering. This morning."

"Yeah?"

"I didn't get to... that is, um..."

He fell silent.

Hikari glanced at the school entrance. "Oh! I think it's--"

"Would you like to do an activity together sometime?"

Slowly, she repeated, "'Do an activity together'?"

Shinji Ikari cringed. In a low, low voice, he said, "A, ah, date. You and me. T-together."

Hikari hated herself a little for how her heart jumped into her throat. "A d-date?"

"Yeah. Like... a movie? Or dinner?" Shinji almost choked. "Or something."

"Why?"

He froze up. "Huh?"

"Why do you want to go on a date with me?" she asked, crossing her arms. "I'm curious, because you didn't seem that eager to date me when _I_ was the one asking _you_ out."

He flushed a deep, crimson red. "Uh, well, that is... I'm really sorry about that, by the way. I panicked. I'm not..." Shinji sighed. "I'm not very good at, you know, _this_."

"You're forgiven. Go on."

"Well, you're just so..."

"Yes?

"This is kind of hard to explain." Shinji swallowed audibly. "You're nice."

"I'm 'nice'?" _Oh God, this must be how men feel._ Hikari looked around for a hole to crawl into.

Shinji nodded, not realizing his misstep. "You take care of everyone around you even though you don't have to," he said, growing surer as he went on. "You take care of your whole family even when you older sister should be the one helping, but you never complain. You don't think it's unfair. You honestly want to help Kodama graduate school so she can get a good job, and you want Nozomi to be happy so you help her study and make sure she eats three meals a day.

"You're our Class Representative too," he continued, their eyes locked, his explanation flowing as if someone had opened a flood gate between his mouth and his heart. "You always make sure Asuka, Ayanami and I catch up on our work when we miss school. You brought us pictures from Okinawa even though we didn't ask, just so we didn't feel left out because we couldn't go on the class trip.

"You're a _nice_ person. You're the best person I've ever met. You care about people because you love them." Shinji took a deep breath. "But... but sometimes you look so _tired_, like it's all getting so heavy on your shoulders and you're afraid you'll be crushed. But you never give up. You don't complain. You keep going. And it's beautiful. I... I wish I could be like that." He paused, fists clenched. "That's why I want to date Hikari Horaki."

Hikari exhaled.

Shinji looked positively green. He just stared at her, waiting.

"Yes," she said.

He jerked, as if electrocuted. "'Y-yes'?"

Hikari nodded. "Yes, Shinji."

They smiled at each other, and somehow their hands found one another.

* * *

Kensuke Aida, standing atop the overturned apple crate, wheeled his cane around enthusiastically. "Come one, come all! See two smoking _hot_ Evangelion pilots face-off in a battle for the ages! Two girls enter WITH KNIVES but only one leaves! _Yessir__!_ Step right up; tickets are only twenty thousand yen each! All proceeds go to charity!"

"Yeah," said Misato, "I think he's enjoying this a little _too_ much."

Ritsuko raised an eyebrow. "Where in the world did he get that red and white pin-stripped suit and matching straw hat?"

"Hell if I know."

* * *

_(Earlier that day...)_

Kensuke gave the money to the costume store owner. The elderly man moved to hand over the paper bag but, mid-motion, hesitated. Clutching the bag tightly, he asked, "You wouldn't happen to be ringmastering bum fights, would you?"

"No, no. It's an apple peel-off."

"Oh," sighed the store owner. "Well, I suppose you can have it anyway." He handed over the outfit. "You wouldn't happen to know where I can find a bum fight to wager on, would you?"

Kensuke took a half-step away from the counter. "Um, no. Sorry."

"Damn!" The store owner snapped his fingers. "Stupid Angel attacks," he muttered to himself under his breath, "always scaring off daddy's bums. I never get to have any fun these day." He paused. "Well, I suppose apple peeling is okay." He looked up. "Hey kid, are you taking any bets on... hey! Where'd he go?"

Kensuke, however, was already sprinting halfway down the next block.

* * *

.

**APPLE-A-GEDDON '15**

.

* * *

A single table had been set up on the auditorium stage. Next to it were two folded chairs and two barrels of apples. Off to the left and the right of the table were mobile dry erase boards, one labeled, in blue, 'REI AYANAMI' and the other, in red, 'ASUKA LANGLEY SORYU'. Misato noted that some waggish soul had drawn a halo above Rei's name and devil horns above Asuka's.

"Ladies and gentlemen," said Kensuke Aida, standing under a spotlight at the forefront of the stage. "The rules are as follows: both contestants have one hour to peel fifty red apples. The peels must be unbroken. Any peel that breaks or is incomplete will not be counted by our impartial panel of judges -- namely, me -- as being a true apple peel. If a peel breaks, the contestant must go on to a fresh apple. Broken peels do not penalize the contestants. We are only counting points from successfully peeled apples, folks. Nothing else.

"Now, with that said, let the APPLE-A-GEDDON begin!!"

The lights for the rest of the auditorium snapped on. Rei and Asuka, each having taken their seats, began to peel their first apples.

peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel p-- _slip _"Shiest!"

Rei, on the other hand...

peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel

...completed her first successfully peeled apple and then set it down on the tabletop.

The crowd watched with baited breath as the tallies rose. There was a loud cheer when Asuka set down her first peeled apple and reached for her second, but the tension heightened at the same because Rei was reaching to start her _third_ peeled apple.

peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel p-- _slip _"Damn!"

peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel p-- _slip _"Damn!"

peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel peel p-- _slip _"Frick!"

It was all over in less than eight minutes.

The final tally read: **REI** - 50, **ASUKA** - 4.

"Man," said Misato loudly in the quiet auditorium, "this sucked."

Asuka shouted from the stage, "Thanks for the support, _Mom_!"

* * *

.

**FRIDAY EVENING **

.

* * *

"Oh well," said Asuka, breathing in the cool night air. "Peeling apples was a stupid bet anyway."

"That's the spirit!" urged Misato. She then turned to Rei. "Congratulations on your win!"

Rei hefted her four foot tall golden trophy from one arm to the other. "Thank you, Captain Katsuragi."

Shinji said from behind the females, "At least we pawed off all those apples on the audience." He made a face. "I don't want to even _see_ an apple ever again after this last week."

"I don't know," said Hikari, who walked alongside him. "If it weren't for these apples, a lot of things might be different. They can't be all bad then, can they?"

Asuka almost turned to make a snarky comment, but a death glare from Misato silence her.

Ritsuko lit up a fresh cigarette. "Well, back to headquarters."

"You should come by to the afterparty, Ritsu," said Misato. "All the Children's friends are going to be there--"

"Aw man," said Asuka, speaking over her guardian, "you didn't invite those dorks, did you? I _told you_, they're not my friends!"

"--and I wouldn't want you to miss the big announcement I have planned."

"That's great, but I really have to get back," said Ritsuko. "Unit-00 isn't going to regenerate its own musculature." She smiled wolfishly. "I'll be sure to tell everyone about the results of tonight's contest though. Everyone will be _very_ curious to hear how Asuka did."

"They will?" asked the redhead. "I'm popular even with Unit-00's support crew?"

"Oh yes," said Ritsuko, her bloodshot eyes narrowing. "Everyone in the whole Technical Department knows what you did to Unit-00. Even with round-the-clock labor, we're still repairing the damage."

Asuka chuckled, oblivious to the poison lacing the blonde scientist's words. "Heh heh. Yeah. I really kicked that blue tin can's ass, didn't I? I'm not sure what was more awesome, ripping out its brains with my bare hands or decapitating it with gunfire."

"Grrr..."

"ANY~way," said Misato, slipping an arm over her oldest friend's shoulder, forcibly steering the blonde scientist away from the Second Child, "I think I should see Ritsu to her car. I'll be right back, okay? Don't wonder off! Otherwise you might miss the afterparty!"

When the four teenagers reached Misato's car -- and the irate people waiting for the person double-parking them in to return -- they found someone unexpected waiting for them.

"Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki," said Rei.

The elderly man leaned off the sports car. "Good evening. I was wondering if I could borrow the Third Child for a moment."

"Um, sure." Shinji glanced at Hikari. "I'll be right back."

Asuka gagged.

* * *

"What does my father want now?" asked Shinji.

They stood in a clearing around the corner from the lot, near a loading dock for the school. Sodium-vapor lights hummed overhead and multitudes of bugs flittered around them in nonsensical orbits. At a respectful distance were several black-suited men wearing sunglasses. The fact it was night out didn't seem to bother them.

"Your father asked me to talk with you," said the Vice-Commander, "because he knows you have questions about your mother."

"My... mother?"

Fuyutsuki nodded. "However, you and your father are no longer on speaking terms... as you so clearly demonstrated yesterday... so it falls to me to answer any questions you might have. Yui Ikari was my finest student and a close friend." He handed Shinji a slip of paper. "My private number. Just call and make an appointment with my secretary. I'll work out something with my schedule."

Shinji hesitated for a moment before pocketing the paper slip.

"You've had your difficulties with your father," said Fuyutsuki, "and trust me when I say that I understand he's not an easy man to like. I know it doesn't seem it, but your father _does_ want to do right by you, Shinji. However, Gendo has never been the best when it comes to... dealing the hearts of others."

"He's an asshole," said Shinji. Then, belatedly, added, "Sir."

Fuyutsuki sighed. "I'm sorry he wasn't here tonight."

"I almost expected him to be, since it was _Ayanami's_ big night."

"He would have liked to have been here, I imagine."

"But he wasn't. Are you going to say it was because of his busted nose?"

"It wasn't his nose," said Fuyutsuki. "Though the Supreme Commander of NERV can't exactly walk around in public looking like he got into a bar fight." He paused, grinning softly. "Your father isn't much for socializing in general. About the only things Yui could ever get your father to go out and do had to involve drinking, drinking and karaoke, or drinking and spoken word poetry."

* * *

(Elsewhere in Tokyo-3...)

Aided by his swollen nose, the beret-wearing figure with tiny, round, black sunglass would have been unrecognizable to those who knew him. Yes, it was always the mark of a true chessmaster to incorporate unseen road bumps into their grand design. Fools stuck to plans. Winners adapted. And he would have been a fool not to take advantage of a disguise as perfect as a swollen nose.

Leaning forward on his stool, a man listed as 'Toru Furuya' on the club register spoke into the microphone:

-

_I tried to understand this_

_I thought that they were outta their minds_

_How could I be so foolish_

_To not see I was the one behind?_

_-  
_

_So still I kept on fighting_

_Losing every step by the way_

_I said, I must go back there_

_In Jackessee still the things are the same_

_-  
_

At the back of the club, Hyuga Makoto said, "Hey, he's good."

"Man," muttered Shiergu Aoba, "what does ever every-damn-body have to massacre the classics on open mic night?"

* * *

It made Shinji feel strange, thinking of his mother and father as real people. He shook off the sensation. It didn't matter.

"I don't need someone to tell me what kind of man my father is. I know him. I needed my father ten years ago," Shinji said, the utter indifference in his voice inwardly startling Fuyutsuki, "and he wasn't there for me. I already gave him a second chance -- because he's still my father, no matter what he's done."

Shinji went on, "When I first came to Tokyo-3, I wanted so badly to hear my father to say something to me; that he was proud of me, that he loved me -- "

" -- that he was sorry?" ventured Fuyutsuki.

Shinji nodded. "That too." He glanced towards the corner that led back to the parking lot, and the people waiting there for him. How strange that was. "But that time, when I called him to let me come back here, I realized I _did_ hate him. He's never wanted me, not like he wants Ayanami."

"That's a remarkably polite way of telling your father to go to hell, Shinji."

Shinji shook his head. "I don't want my father to go to hell, even if I did hate him."

"'Did'?"

"It gets tiring," he admitted, "hating all the time. I've tried it, pushing people around. It's fun at first. Being in control. Not having to worry about what others think of me. But all that hate doesn't go anywhere." His absentmindedly traced a path along his neck with the fingertips of his right hand. "You just end up with sore knuckles." He shook his head clear and added, "Plus treating people like chess pieces just makes me like my father, and... and I'd rather be sad and lonely than be _anything_ like him."

"How do you know your father isn't also sad and lonely?"

Shinji didn't know how to immediately respond to that question. "I... I guess that means we're more similar than we're not, but... I just want him to leave me alone. I don't need any more coaxing or threats to pilot Eva. I'm doing it for myself."

"That's not a bad reason," replied the old man. He bowed politely. "Good night, Shinji."

Shinji bowed back. "Good night, Vice-Commander Fuyutsuki."

* * *

At the Katsuragi Household, the party was soon in full swing. Somehow Misato had arranged for the dance pad from Asuka and Shinji's training against the Seventh Angel to be set up while they were all away at Apple-A-Geddon '15. A music selection made by Asuka played on the apartment stereo system. While people waited for their turns on the dance pad, they gorged on takeout and gossiped.

"Seriously," said Asuka to Hikari, "I don't get what you see in him."

"I know," the brunette said, grinning.

Asuka blanched. "Ugh. You're going to be one of _those_ people now, aren't you?"

"Yup!"

The doorbell chimed.

Misato perked up and leaped off the dancepad, invalidating her negative point score against Rei in this round of the game. "Ah! That'll be him."

After about half a minute, Misato came back in the family room with two new guests in tow.

"Aida?" asked Hikari. "Suzahara?"

Asuka scowled. "What are they two doing here?!"

"They're your stooges," said Shinji, sipping his cola. "Ask them."

The redhead glared at the Third Child, who in turn shriveled a bit under her evil eye. He was able to meet her gaze without blinking, though. Asuka snorted and turned her attention to the two newcomers. "Spill."

Kensuke took a moment to polish his eyeglasses, avoiding Asuka's eyes all the while. Touji just shrugged. "Hell if I dunno. I'm just tagging along for the ride."

"Everyone," said Misato, raising her latest Yebisu in a salute, "listen up. It's my pleasure to introduce you the Marduk Institute's candidate for the pilot of Evangelion Unit-03, the Fourth Child -- your very own Kensuke Aida!"

Touji Suzahara, Hikari Horaki, Shinji Ikari, and especially Asuka Langley Soryu regarded the bespectacled teen with naked shock. Rei Ayanami just blinked, but those that knew her grasped that the understated reaction was her equivalent of a spit-take. Only drier. Infinitely drier. But then what about the First Child wasn't dry?

"Wooooooooo!" The freckle-faced boy in question thrust his fists up in the air. "I ROCK!"

"What?!" said Asuka, bolting upright. "NO! It's can't be! Not HIM! This is IMPOSSIBLE!"

"No," declared Kensuke Aida. "This is AWESOME."

* * *

# # # TO BE CONTINUED

* * *

**Next Chapter: **_Doing Whatever a Spider Can_ -- Kensuke is shown the ropes by Shinji and Asuka. Rei gives "living life" her best shot. Oh, and there's another Angel attack.


End file.
